Soul Eater: Murphy
by Marioninja1
Summary: The sequel to Soul Eater: Riley. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Me and Kay never got along really well. Kaya McConnell, my fraternal twin's whole name, was a hard working, goody two-shoes with brown hair and olive eyes. I, however, was an 'easygoing skateboarder' with emerald eyes and long sandy blonde hair. Y'see, I'm not that easygoing; I care a lot about things. I just don't say it out loud. I'm Murphy McConnell, Riley and Maka's son. I was-supposedly-a second or two younger than Kay. This story starts on our way to the first day of the new school year at DWMA a week after we moved to Death City.

"The heat isn't so bad, Murphy." Kay said, riding her bike.

I grinded on a rail and landed perfectly, grinning. "I, unlike you, don't like leaving Ireland."

"It seems to be the only thing that bothers you." Kay said.

I shrugged, stopping as we saw the school. "Death City was, apparently, built by Tim Burton." I said.

Kay began walking up the stairs as a giant skeleton-looking dude shouted "Heya!" and "Hiya!" at the students who were walking into the school.

"Shinigami-sama." Kay bowed.

"'Sup?" I waved.

"Heya Kay! Hiya Murphy!" Shinigami-sama said. "How are your parents?"

"They're fine, Shinigami-sama." Kay said.

"Of course they're fine. They're in Ireland."

"Shut up, Murphy!" Kay said.

"You just hate me 'cause I'm a scythe." I said. I was a Weapon, while Kay was the Meister. She tried wielding me once, but our wavelengths didn't match, so it seemed like I was really heavy. So she called me a fatso. And I called her ugly. It escalated quickly.

A kid with spiky black hair with blue streaks walked by, looking at his feet.

"Heya! Who are you?" Shinigami-sama asked.

"Ryu Star." The sky kid said.

"Hello Ryu, I'm Kay. This slacker is my twin brother, Murphy." Kay smiled. "Are you a Weapon?"

Ryu nodded.

"Do you want to be my Weapon?" Kay asked.

Ryu shrugged.

"Alright, then." Kay smiled, then looked at me. "Pay up."

I grumbled as I handed her five bucks. "Can't believe goody two-shoes won." I groaned.

"Go pout. I win. You lose." Kay stuck her tongue out.

As I looked away, a girl passed by me. She had black hair with a long pink streak that went down to her shoulder while the rest of her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her ponytail had three vertical white stripes that looked freakin' awesome.

"Who's that?" I asked Kay.

"Kid's daughter, Zoe. She's a Meister." Kay said.

"All I need to know." I shrugged, walking over to her. "Yo! Zoe!"

"Huh?" Zoe asked, turning around. She was pale, and had golden eyes (like her father's, as I found out later.)

"Wanna be my Meister?" I asked.

"Depends. Who are you?" Zoe asked, folding her arms and leaning back slightly.

"Some Irish skateboarder who'll probably surprise you." I said. "And who are you?"

"Some Death City girl who's got a weird hairstyle and a soon-to-be Death God dad." Zoe said. "You got a name?"

"Yeah. Murphy." I said.

"Why don't you have an accent?" Zoe asked.

"I could, if ya' want me to." I said in my Irish accent.

Zoe shrugged. "Are you a gun?"

"Do I look like one?"

"..."

"Scythe."

"Oh. Cool." Zoe said. "Who's your teacher?"

"Mr. Ford." I said.

"Me too." Zoe said. "Follow me."

I looked back at Kay and gave two thumbs-up.


	2. Chapter 2

A giant, evil killer smashed out of a storefront, gore covering the thing's face. A innocent woman was in between the thing's teeth, barely hanging onto life. The thing's teeth snapped down, and the woman was immediately killed, two parts of her falling from the giant thing's steel teeth. Her soul, however, was eaten by the thing.

"How dare you." Zoe growled, lowering on her skateboard, Lucifer. "How dare you end that woman's life. She deserved to live much more than you."

"I am what I am, Shinigami." The thing said, looking at Zoe. It had the body of a giant bulldog, with a giant, round, metal head.

"Hey, Cujo, this is real life, not some sick little game you can play." Zoe said. I was doubtful of how in-control she was, though. Her palms were sweaty, and she had admitted she'd never fought. Zoe was very unsure of herself, no matter what facade she hid behind. "Murphy, what do you think we should do?" Zoe asked, looking down at my blade.

I appeared in the blade, frowning. "Move. Now!" I said. Zoe jumped off of Lucifer, and the skateboard disappeared a split second before Cujo snapped his jaw where we had been. "Never take your eyes off of your enemy, Zoe." I said.

"Sorry." Zoe said.

"It's alright." I said. "He's front heavy, so get around him."

"Front heavy? You won't be saying I'm front heavy when you're being digested." Cujo growled.

Zoe charged at Cujo, hoping to slide under him. Cujo, though, knew what she was trying to do, snapping his jaws down on the asphalt. She bumped into his metal face, and muttered "Oh shi-"

Cujo lifted his jaws again, and was about to cut her in half when she slid back, narrowly avoiding his teeth.

I cursed and turned back into human form, grabbing Zoe's arm and sliding her along the ground. Cujo's jaws shut in front of me, narrowly cutting my arm off.

"Try eating me. I dare you." I said, turning my arm into a blade. I began slicing the inside of his teeth, shooting sparks up, when his head lifted. I began sliding to the back of his throat when I realized that his insides were metal, with no spit or anything. I lodged my blade arm into his mouth and Cujo shouting in pain, flinging his head around.

"AAGH! E'S SCHABBIN' MEH!" Cujo shouted. He flung his head down and I turned my arm back to normal, falling out of his mouth.

"Zoe!" I shouted, and grabbed her arm, turning into a weapon. She twirled me in her hand and ran, jumping.

"Gotcha!" Cujo said, opening his giant jaws. But Zoe anticipated that, and landed on his head, her leg getting cut on his closing jaws. "No!" Cujo shouted.

"Yes!" Zoe shouted, fist-pumping.

"Zoe!"

"Sorry!" Zoe said, and stabbed Cujo in the head, ending his killing spree. We landed as his afreet egg soul appeared, and I turned back into a human.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. Just a teensy scratch...that burns like hell." Zoe said as I cleaned her wound and but a bandage on it.

I looked at the afreet egg and smiled. "Let's do something easier next time, 'kay? Just because we _can_ do harder missions doesn't mean we _should_."

"Don't have to tell me twice. You nearly got eaten!" Zoe said.

I shrugged. "Wasn't so bad. Other than smelling like blood and steel, his mouth was clean." I grabbed the afreet egg.

"What are you going to do?" Zoe asked.

"Well, my parents were both Meisters. So I used to go to Uncle Soul's and Aunt Kylie's house to be taught how to be a Weapon. And I was taught to do this-" I said, and ate the afreet egg, sighing happily after I swallowed it. "Yum."

"That's nasty!" Zoe said.

I shrugged. "It's how I was taught."

"But still..." Zoe said.

"Haters gonna hate." I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "Wanna go home now? I'm tired."

"Alright." Zoe said.

Zoe

When I saw Murphy leave my bedroom, waving after teaching me how to put a bandage on, I thought he went home. Then, when I woke up, the Irishman was asleep on the couch, looking adorable. But I wasn't the one who found him first.

"Zoe," Mom said. "There's a boy asleep on the couch."

"Huh?" I asked, putting my pink streak of hair behind my ear. I walked into the bedroom and, sure enough, my Weapon was snoring on the couch.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Mom asked.

"Mom! He's my Weapon. He's also my teacher...sort of." I said. The relationship I had with Murphy was odd. He taught me how to be a Meister (both of my parents weren't good teachers: Mom's Weapon was her blood and Dad was to obsessed with symmetry to teach me how to fight), so Murphy was teaching me. But he was also my friend.

"What do you want to do?" Mom asked.

"Wake him up and give him breakfast, I guess." I said.

"He's cute." Mom smiled shyly.

"Mom!"

"Sorry."

I shrugged. "I guess he's a bit cute," I admitted.


	3. Chapter 3

After teaching Zoe how to bandage herself up, I went downstairs, my eyes heavy as lead. 'Huh,' I thought. 'That couch sure looks inviting. Zoe wouldn't mind if I just sat there for a second...'

_Much longer than a second later._

I sat up, drowsily. I looked around, not noticing that it was sunny outside. When I saw the clock, though, I sure as hell noticed it. Seven o' clock in the morning. I also noticed that the clock wasn't mine, because it looked like Shinigami-san's mask.

"I fell asleep in Zoe's house. Oh crap." I said.

"Heya! Murphy!" Shinigami-san said, sticking his head through the door. "It's breakfast time! We got some of your clothes from your sister. She wasn't very happy."

"I'm, uh, fine. I'll just be, err, going to school." I said, just imagining how awkward breakfast would be. 'So you're her Weapon? Wow. I never thought that you'd be such a lazy tool. Ah well.' Kid would say, then blow my head off with one of his guns.

"C'mon!" Shinigami-san said, tossing me a plastic bag full of my clothes. It promptly hit me in the face. "Shower and get down here!"

"Yes, Shinigami-san." I said, thinking of things I regretted not doing while my head wasn't blown off my shoulders.

_A while later._

I finished buttoning up the clothes Kay had left for me, and frowned. Kay always hated my 'skater-clothes', and always bought clothes she'd like me to wear. And she brought me some of them, seeing how she could get a laugh in at my expense without even seeing me. I had to wear a white button-up shirt with short sleeves, khaki pants, and Nike shoes instead of my regular shoes.

I walked down the stairs, eyes downcast (not that you could see my eyes; my hair covered my emerald orbs.)

"Hello Murphy." Kid said, making his plate completely symmetrical.

"Err, hi." I said.

"Sit down, if you want. How was your mission?" Crona said, smiling slightly. I have to admit, I could see how you could fall for her.

I sat between Zoe and Crona, a bit nervous. "I almost got eaten alive, if that goes for anything."

"Really?" Crona asked.

"Yeah. We won, though, and we got an afreet egg." I said.

"Murphy actually _eats_ the afreet eggs." Zoe said.

"Like Soul does?" Kid asked.

"Yeah. He taught me back in Ireland." I said.

"Because your parents were Meisters?" Kid asked. I nodded. "I've noticed that you and Kay don't get along." Kid said.

"We don't." I said.

"That's different. Riley and Kylie were nearly inseparable." Shinigami-san said, his fork looking tiny in his gigantic cartoonish hand.

"Yeah. Dad and Aunt Kylie don't understand why we aren't as close as they were. But we just don't get along, y'know." I shrugged. "It is how it is."

"That's not a very respectable attitude." Kid said. "You can always change how things are."

"Some things are set in stone, Kid." I said.

"Like what?" Kid asked.

"Well, for one, I'll never summon a freakin' skateboard like Zoe can." I said. "Can't change that."

"But you _can_ change how you'll react." Kid said.

"Maybe you're right," I shrugged. "Either way, I'm going to stay easygoing, and I'm not going to strive to get along with someone that hates how I act."

"How good at fighting is Zoe?" Crona asked.

"Better than others." I said. In truth, she needed training, but I wasn't going to say that with her right there.

"That's good." Crona said.

"Murphy, we gotta go. School's about to start. Bye mom, bye dad, bye Grandpa." Zoe said, hugging all of them as she said their name. "C'mon!" Zoe said, grabbing my hand and dragging me out the door.

"Bye!" I shouted to all of them. When we were out in the street, I said "I wish you could meet my parents. I miss them."

Zoe shrugged, blushing brightly. "Okay." She said, probably not listening to what I said. In hindsight, I should've noticed that she held my hand to drag me out of the house.

Isabella

I got off, stretching. My visit was supposed to be a surprise, though one person was told of my visit: William Stein. And, sure enough, William was standing in the airport, waiting for me. He had golden eyes, like his mom, a muscular body, green skin, and grey hair with bangs the color of Mrs. Stein's hair.

"Hey Will." I said. I had long white hair, one emerald eye, and one red eye.

"Hello Isabella." Will said. "How's Kylie?"

"Mom's doing great." I said, looking up at Will. It wasn't that he was tall; it was because of my shortness. "Taking care of my little brother."

"Is he going to skip two grades like you?" Will asked with a small smile.

"I don't know. Maybe." I shrugged. "How long's the ride to Death City?"

"An hour or two." Will said.

"Crap." I sighed


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as I saw Isabella I smiled. "Bella!" I said, smiling and hugging her.

"Kay! What's up?" Isabella asked, hugging me back.

"Not much. You're training here?" Kay asked.

"Yeah. Skipped two grades, though." Isabella said.

"Just like Aunt Kylie?" I asked.

"Yep." Isabella answered. "Do you have a Weapon?"

"Yeah. Blue Star. We call him Ryu." I said and, making sure nobody was listening, said "I think he's, y'know..."

"Really? Huh." Isabella said. "Where is he?"

"He's training." I said. "He's really into that stuff, just like his dad is."

"Where's Murphy?" Isabella asked.

"I think he's with his Meister." I said. "You know Kid's daughter?"

"Who doesn't? She was on Teen Meister a few times." Isabella said.

"Well, Murphy said 'she's hot,' and ran up to her, asking her to be his Meister." I said.

Isabella laughed. "Is he still skateboarding?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." I said. Unbeknownst to us (at the time,) Murphy saw us and was going to talk to us, but saw William. William looked straight at Murphy and let him walk out of DWMA, and didn't tell us.

Murphy

Well, Isabella was back in town. Which meant Kay got a roommate. Which also meant William would be around more often (he was head-over-heels for her.) On the Meister-Weapon side of my life, Zoe was rushing out training a bit. I didn't know why, though I learned soon.

"Hey Murphy." Zoe said, smiling when she saw me.

"Hey." I said, a bit glum.

"What's wrong?" Zoe asked

"Nothing. What should we do today?" I asked.

"I think we could try something like the Witch Hunter move." Zoe said.

"Zoe, we aren't ready for that." I said.

"We could still try it." Zoe said.

"Then you'd get hurt." I said. I didn't mean for it to sound mean, but I was feeling terrible, and it came out wrong.

"Are you saying that I'm the one who gets hurt?" Zoe asked.

"I'm saying we should-" I began.

"I'm inexperienced, okay?" Zoe said.

"I-" I began.

"Maybe if you helped me more, I'd be better at fighting." Zoe said.

"I don't have to take this!" I shouted. "I want to help you, but you're going to fast! All you do is say that I should get a better Meister! Have confidence in yourself!" I started walking away. "Calm down and we'll talk again." I said.

I left Zoe crying in the small forest by Death City, feeling hollow.

_Somewhere far away, said by someone who died years ago and by someone who will never die, and heard by a teenager._

"Now." Said the snake.

And the wolf went on the hunt.

Isabella

I was standing in the kitchen, and Kay had just left when Murphy walked in.

"Is William here?" Murphy asked, sounding really sad.

"No. What's wrong, Murphy?" I asked, sitting down. Murphy sat by me, and began talking.

"Zoe's insecure, and we just fought over nothing because I was feeling so bad about seeing William." Murphy said.

"When did you see William? And why did it make you feel bad?" I asked.

"I saw him when you were talking to Kay earlier today." Murphy said. "And William bullied me like crazy when we were kids. He made fun of me because I was a Weapon and everything."

I saw that this had been eating away at Murphy. "Don't worry," I said, hugging him. He, reluctantly, hugged me back. "He won't bully you anymore."

As soon as I said that, the door smashed open. Literally.

**A/N: Two things: 1. I think I stole that 'Teen Meister' magazine from a really good one-shot about Soul and Maka. Whoever wrote that one-shot, thanks, and I wish I favorited it. 2. I like how Isabella's like an older sister/mother to Murphy. Murphy needs one, and it shows how kind Isabella is.**

**-MN1**


	5. Chapter 5

I called Murphy again, and, once again, the phone rang three times and said "This is Murphy McConnell. I'm not picking up right now, so...yeah."

I smiled. I liked Murphy's Irish accent. It was too bad he learned to speak in an American accent.

"Murphy, pick up your phone!" I said. "It's Zoe. I'm sorry about what I said. But you're right. I do need to have more confidence. Please, pick up." I felt more tears coming. Why was I so touchy around Murphy?

Kay

I walked to my neighborhood, a plastic bag full of groceries on my arm, just as Murphy came out, handcuffed. Stein was standing, looking at him, as he took a toothpick out (his alternative to smoking now that he was married.)

"Murphy!" I shouted. "What's going on?"

Murphy looked at me, and immediately began struggling against the Meisters who were holding him back. "I didn't do it!" Murphy shouted. "Believe me!"

"What?" I asked. Stein walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Kay. Isabella's missing." Stein said. "Murphy was found passed out in the apartment, blood on his shirt and dirt on his shoes. We think he's responsible, but we don't know."

"Huh?" I asked. Something in my brain wasn't functioning, and I couldn't put two and two together.

"The evidence isn't in Murphy's favor. We called your parents, as well as Isabella's." Stein said. "Are you okay?"

I sat down, right in the middle of the street, and began to cry.

Murphy

I sat in my cell, trying to piece to together what happened back at the apartment. I ran in, depressed, then talked to Isabella. She was really nice, then...

"What happened!" I shouted, the black spots where thoughts should be angering me.

"You have a visitor." My guard said, and in walked Mom and Dad. Dad had short brown hair, emerald eyes like mine, and a goatee. Mom had olive eyes, like Kay's, sandy blonde hair, like mine, and pale skin.

"Hey Murphy, how are you doing?" Dad asked.

"I didn't do it." I said.

"We know. You couldn't-wouldn't-do something like that." Dad said, sounding completely truthful.

"What happened, though?" Mom asked. "The police won't tell us anything."

"I talked with Isabella, and that's all I remember until I woke up, laying in the middle of the floor. I walked to the door, and, like, eight people arrested me." I said.

"Hm." Dad said, scratching his chin. "You'll be fine, Murphy. We'll get you out soon, even if we have to break you out."

I smiled. "Thanks, Dad."

I stuck my hands out of the cold prison bars, and held Mom and Dad's hands.

"We love you. Never forget that." Maka said.

"I won't." I said. "Ever."

_Zoe_

I was sitting on my bed, looking at the wall when the guard said I had a visitor. I sat up, and there was Zoe, looking very, very bad.

"I'm sorry." Zoe said.

"For what?" I asked, walking up to the bars. "I'm the one who should be sorry. _I_ shouted at _you_."

"Some people are saying you attacked Isabella because you were so angry from our fight." Zoe said.

"Zoe, I didn't attack anyone. And-" I began.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be your Meister. You deserve a better one." Zoe said.

"Have confidence in you-" Zoe interrupted me, quickly walking out of the room. I reached my hands out as far as I could out of the bars, hitting my chest against the bars. "No! Come back!" I shouted. But she was gone.

_Kay_

Kay walked in, the last visitor for the day. "Hey Murphy." Kay said silently, as if a loud noise would drive me crazy.

"Hey." I said. I was in a fetal position in the bed, feeling hollow from Zoe running off.

"How are you doing?" Kay asked.

"I've been in prison for a whole day. I thought there'd be more anger, or at least some guy to give me a tattoo." I chuckled.

"Murphy, let's be serious. Tell us where Isabella is. I want to see my-" Kay said.

"You think I actually kidnapped her?" I asked.

Kay continued, as if I didn't interrupt her. "Cousin again."

"I didn't do it!" I shouted. "Kay, don't you believe me?"

"The evidence is against you." Kay said. "I mean, you were found alone, in our apartment, with blood on your hands and mud on your shoes."

"But I wouldn't lay a finger on anyone!" I said, standing up and walking over to the bars. To my horror, Kay stepped back.

"You never cared much about anything, Murphy. Maybe you would hurt someone. I don't know." Kay said. I sank to the floor. "Where is she?" Kay asked.

"Get out." I said. Kay began again, saying 'where', before I shouted "GET OUT!"

She left, not looking back.


	6. Chapter 6

My sister-my own flesh and blood-thought I was a murderer. My Meister did too. All I had left was my Mom and Dad.

I heard a sound behind me, and I sat up, looking into the shadows. A teenager with blonde hair in a pony tail and snake-like eyes was standing in the corner of the room. She had a sleeveless black hoodie, black pants and no shoes. I immediately recognized the clothing she wore as the same kind that Medusa wore, and stood up, wishing I could use my scythe arm (the prison cells used some kind of technique that neutralized our abilities.)

"Who are you?" I asked.

The teen smiled. "Linda. You're Murphy McConnell. Do you feel betrayed?"

"Hm?"

"I saw everything that your supposed 'friends' said, Murphy. That's cold, what Kay did. Running off like that..." Linda said. "I mean, your Dad killed my mom and I'm not that mean to you."

"Medusa had a daughter?" I asked.

"Sort of." Linda said. "Your Dad killed her, then mom came back and had me."

"What are you?" I asked.

"A Meister witch. Unless you're saying that as a 'what are you, some kind of monster?' sense." Linda said.

"I meant it in the 'are you a Meister?' sense." I said. "You mean you forgive me, even when Dad killed your mom?"

"Yeah. It's not your fault. You didn't do anything." Linda said.

"You're speaking my language." I said. "Why did you come here?"

"We know you're powerful. If Zoe was a bit more patient and listened to you more, you'd be a Death Scythe, easy." Linda said. Her smile was cute, and inviting. "Do you want to work with my mom?"

"Would you guys turn your back on me like my 'friends' did?" I asked.

"No way. I mean, just from speaking to you for this long, I can tell you wouldn't do something like that." Linda said. "Your ex-friends must be blind."

"Yeah." I smiled. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Linda's smile grew a bit. "This way."

Kay

I came to the school, expecting dirty looks. Instead, Zoe immediately ran up to me, talking too fast to understand.

"?" Zoe said.

I slowed down her words, and was alarmed. "Murphy escaped!" I asked. Zoe gave me a new copy of 'Death City Today.'

"Convict Escapes. Witch Believed To Be Involved." I read. "Guards awoke to the empty cell of an Irish teenager, son of the famous Riley McConnell and Maka McConnell, maiden name Albarn, Murphy McConnell. Murphy McConnell was supposedly linked to the kidnapping of his cousin, Isabella Evans, daughter of Death Scythes Soul 'Eater' Evans and Kylie Evans, maiden name McConnell." I looked up. "He broke out! But how?"

"Nobody knows. It says there were no holes in the wall or anything." Zoe said. "Where would he go?"

"I don't know. We never talked much." As soon as I said that, I felt immense regret. "I never talked to my own twin much, then I accused him of kidnapping my cousin. I'm the worst twin ever."

"No you're not. He cared more about you than he let on." Zoe said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"He was-is-a very caring person. He just never showed his softer side." Zoe said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah." Zoe said. William walked up to us, and sighed.

"I should've told you this earlier." William said.

"What should you have told me?" I asked, and William dropped a giant bomb on me.

"I bullied Murphy a lot when we were kids, and he resented me for it. I always did it when you and Isabella were never looking. I told him mean things, like Weapons weren't as good as Meisters, just to see him cry. And he hated me for it. He was walking over to you and Isabella a few hours before he was arrested, but saw me and walked off." William said.

"If you told us he was there, we could've talked to him, and this might've not happened." I said.

"I know. And I'm-" William suddenly flew back as Zoe hit him in the nose, sending him flying.

"Sorry isn't good enough!" Zoe shouted, and stopped. "All I ever said to Murphy was sorry. I should've been listening." Zoe shook her hand. "I promise Murphy, wherever he is, I'll listen to him if-when-he comes back."

**A/N: Wow. This series is a bit sad. It'll get better (if the series goes how I planned.)**

**-MN1**


	7. Chapter 7

It'd been a few days since I'd escaped, and I'd been living a happy life: getting to know Free, Linda, and Medusa. They were all nice, and really forgiving. Linda was especially friendly, and we spent most of our days together. I sat in the floor, looking at Medusa. She was nothing like Mom and Dad said: she was actually very kind, and seemed to truly miss Crona.

"So, how old is Jason?" I asked. Linda wasn't present; he was helping Free get clothes and other things to help me blend in. Our cover was that we were all family, but our father died, so Uncle Freeman (Free) was helping us out. We lived in a four-bedroom condo in a city. I don't remember where it was, but it wasn't far from Death City.

"Fifteen." Medusa said. "What is your family like?"

"Um..."

"Don't be shy." Medusa smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me anything."

"Well, Kay and me were never real close. We just never got along. She always called me a slacker, but I'm not a slacker. I just don't like showing my emotions." I said.

"Why?" Medusa asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I always thought it was the best thing to do."

"You can do whatever you want, but I'd prefer to know how you feel." Medusa said. "I didn't have a very good childhood, either. Being a witch is hard."

"You didn't deserve it." I said. "You were attacked for being born?"

"The DWMA was a very cruel Academy to my family." Medusa said.

I felt terrible. "I was in DWMA."

Medusa, as if sensing how bad I felt, pulled me in for a hug, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Shh. It's not your fault. You were raised on lies, never being told the truth. I won't blame you."

I clenched my fist. "Unlike my twin."

"Forget about them. I'm your family, and so is Uncle Free, if you want us to be." Medusa said.

"What about Linda?" I asked.

"Linda? Well, she can be whatever you and she wants to be." Medusa smiled.

"Huh?" I was cut off by Linda and Free walking in the door, loaded down by bags and boxes. I helped them with the bags, and they told me to leave the room.

"It's your late birthday!" Linda smiled, then shut the door.

"What was that about?" I wondered aloud.

"You play guitar, right?" Medusa asked through the door.

"Yeah. Dad taught me." I said. "I'm not that good, though."

Linda snorted. "That's bull-"

"Language, Linda." Medusa said.

"Sorry mom." Linda said. "Are we done?"

"Yep." Free said, then I heard him trip on something. "GODDAMN SHIT!"

"Free, watch your language!" Medusa said, while Linda laughed.

"Okay, come out _now._" Free said, them muttered "Ow."

I opened the door, and there were a ton of presents.

"Happy late-birthday!" Linda smiled.

I laughed. "Guys, you didn't have to get me presents. And besides, my birthday is in March." I said. "It's, like, January. It's an early birthday."

"Oh. Crap." Linda said.

"We figured you'd want some stuff, since you left everything at your apartment." Medusa said.

"Catch!" Linda said, tossing me a skateboard. "Ha! Your fingerprints are on it! He attempted to kill Free!"

I froze. "Ah! I got priors! I gotta run!" I laughed.

"Kids." Medusa smiled, shaking her head. "We got you a guitar, a practice amplifier, and an iPod."

"That has music on it, courtesy of me." Linda said. "You like Taylor Swift, right?"

"You better not have-" I began.

"Joking. Dropkick Murphys, Jay-Z, and loads of other music." Linda said. "Check it out."

"Thanks, guys." I said, hugging Medusa and Linda, then shaking Free's hand. When I hugged Linda she blushed bright red.

"You're part of our family now, Murphy." Medusa said. "It's the least we could do. Now, Free, don't go too crazy with Murphy's hair."

"I won't." Free rolled his eyes.

"I dunno, a short hairstyle would show off his cute eyes." Linda said, completely serious, lifting my hair.

"'Cute'?" I asked.

"Err...manly eyes." Linda blushed.

**A/N: I feel like I should tell you that Linda was originally a guy named Jason, and that I wrote several chapters before changing Jason to Linda. So, if you see a 'him' instead of a 'her,' forgive me.**

**-MN1**


	8. Chapter 8

I was skating with Linda, listening to Ulysses by Franz Ferdinand.

_'Oh, oh then suddenly you know/You're never going home/You're never, you're never,/you're never/You're never, you're never, you're never/You're never going home'_

Free and Linda had done a good job with my hair. I now had short, black hair that showed my eyes off. I wondered what Linda meant by saying my eyes were 'cute,' but decided not to look much into it. As you can see, my easygoing side was still around.

As I was thinking, I went down a ramp and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. That, of course, was a bad idea. I realized this as I was sailing through the air, my skateboard gone and Linda shouting.

"Sonofa-!" I said. I did the smart thing and turned into a scythe, bouncing off of the pavement. Linda ran over to me, skateboard in hand.

"What were you thinking?" Linda asked.

"Not much." I shrugged, standing up. "Man, I never messed up that bad."

"Be careful, man." Linda said. "You wanna go home?"

"Yeah." I said, changing the song on my iPod to 'Straight Outta Compton' by NWA. And, no, I won't list the lyrics, or what NWA (the group that made the song) stands for. "Hey, Linda." I smiled. "Why should you duck when you see me in your hood?"

Linda smiled. "Coz you're crazy as fu-"

Zoe

"Hey, Zoe." Kay said, handing me the new 'Death City Today.' The front page read 'WITCH SUSPECTED IN HELPING IRISH TEEN FREE.'

I tossed the newspaper across the room.

"Of course," I sighed. "The wavelength-dampeners couldn't handle a witch's, because a witch would be stored near to Shinigami-san."

"How'd you know that?" Kay asked.

"All of my family that has shinigami blood knows a lot about things like that." I said, laying down on the couch. I hit play on the stereo remote, and My Chemical Romance began playing the opening guitar riff to 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise.)'

**A/N: Yes, I like My Chemical Romance. And Fall Out Boy. Don't hate. -MN1**

"Don't go emo." Kay said, sitting beside me. "I'm sure Murphy's going to come back."

"Maybe. Why doesn't he come home faster, though? And why would he leave with a witch if he was going to come back?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know." Kay said. "But Murphy wouldn't just run off and betray his family."

"But we betrayed him first." I said. "We were saying he did all these things and stressing him out when we should've been saying things like 'you didn't do anything."

Kay sighed. "We can't changed what's already happened, but we _can_ change how we'll act in the future."

"You're right, I guess." I sat up. "But what can we do?"

"Track him down?" Kay smiled, then got serious. "There's not much we _can_ do, Zoe. We just need to wait."

"If you say so." I said, and stood up. "Have you ever skateboarded?"

"No." Kay shook her head.

"Crap. I want to skate with someone." I said, missing Murphy.

**A/N: Sorry for the short length.**

**-MN1**


	9. Chapter 9

I was sitting alone with Medusa, with Free and Linda sent off to get some dinner. I had no idea how long I'd been with them, or what my friends and family thought of me.

"I have something very important to tell you, Murphy." Medusa said after we were done meditating- one of the activities Medusa and I frequently did together.

"You can tell me anything," I smiled.

"Alright. I think we should see your ex-friends and family." Medusa said. "Do you have any anger towards them?"

I thought about it. "Yes."

"Do you want to get back at them?" Medusa asked.

Now, what my father would've said would've been along the lines of "No, I love my friends and family too much." But I wasn't my father, and my father wouldn't have gotten himself in this situation. My mother wouldn't have either, and Kay wouldn't had either. So black-sheep Murphy had to go along and change the way things were.

"Yeah," I smiled. "I do. How are we going to get all of them in one place, though?"

"I figured we were going to take them out, one-by-one." Medusa said.

"Respectfully, that wouldn't work. The smarter guys, like Kylie and Mom would notice what was up and hide, and they'd still be around. I want them all gone, and all in one place." I said. "How about the ball, or maybe some bait?"

"What bait?" Medusa asked, smiling like a snake.

"Me. Everyone I want to get back's gotta have some connection to me." I said. "They'll all want to kill me, then you, Free, and Jason will pop-up and kill them. With my help, if you want it."

Medusa's face softened as she placed a hand on my shoulder and kissed my head. "Of course I want it, honey. You're my son now."

"And you're my mother." I said.

Medusa and I hugged, and I felt everything I missed from my old life; it had its ups and downs, yeah, but what about all of the good things? Was I to destroy that?

But, then again, life with Medusa was ideal. I had a best-friend (and girlfriend, hopefully) with Linda and a father-figure in Free. Sure, life was never like this before, but, then again, life would never be like this with anyone else.

_The next day._

It felt good to be training again. Linda was a good Meister, and her witch blood allowed her to use some crazy magic as well as using me.

"Want to try again, kids?" Medusa asked.

"Yeah," Linda said, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "Soul Resonance!"

"Soul Resonance!" I shouted, and transformed into a giant, glowing blue scythe.

I have to say, Soul Resonance is an amazing feeling. "Are we ready, Medusa?" I asked.

"Yes. We are." Medusa smiled.

Zoe

When she came back we could hardly believe it. Murphy had left a week before, and, at six a.m., Isabella was found, curled up in a little ball. She couldn't remember what had happened to her, but knew that Murphy wasn't to blame.

The problem was, none of the police believed her. They all said she was in shock, or thought of Murphy as her friend, so she wouldn't say that Murphy had done anything to her.

Now it was two months since Murphy left. I had a new Weapon, but he was nothing like Murphy; that wasn't a good thing. Kay seemed to get over him, but if anyone said anything about Murphy she would go into her room and not come out for several hours. William never talked to me, which was okay; he was a creep, by my standards, at least.

And finally, I realized why I felt so weird whenever I thought about Murphy.

"I love him." I said to myself, looking in a mirror. Then, I picked up the letter Murphy had sent me and opened it. It said that he would be in the school greenhouse that night at midnight, and that he'd sent the letter to the following people: Kid, Zoe, Crona, Riley, Maka, Kay, Kylie, and Soul.

I noticed that there were no last names, and I probably thought that it would be a trap. But I still rushed to my parents, and, at eleven forty-five, I still went with my family to the greenhouse that I didn't know existed.

And, standing in the middle of the greenhouse, Murphy was standing there, arms crossed. But he didn't look like Murphy. His hair was short and black, and there was something in his eyes, like he had only vague recollections of who we are, and none of them were good.

"Murphy?" Riley asked, when, suddenly, three people came out of the shadows. I knew two of the people were: Medusa and Free. I didn't know who the last person was, but I knew she was Medusa's daughter; they looked extremely alike.

"Go to sleep." Medusa said, and the whole crowd blacked out. But I held on.

"Murphy..." I said, my vision going black. "I...Don't do...this."

Then, I passed out, at the mercy of the villains in front of me.


	10. Chapter 10

When the crowd woke up, Free and Linda had tied their hands and legs together.

Chrona immediately began shaking when she saw Medusa.

"L-Lady Medusa?" Chrona asked. "I-I thought you were dead."

"Hardly," Medusa smiled. "Free came to my aid, and kept my soul from being absorbed."

"How'd we forget something like that?" Riley said.

I rubbed my eyes, wondering who these people were. I couldn't remember. I think I saw them, but I didn't remember.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked. No, that wasn't Riley. That was my father, the one who had taught me how to play guitar, the one who bought me my first skateboard.

"Who are you people?" I asked, looking at each of the people's faces, one-by-one, trying to remember who they were.

Dad looked at Medusa angrily. "What did you do to him?" Dad shouted.

"Oh, shut up. I did what I did to you. He's got a snake inside of him, slowly eating his memories of you away. Of course, he can barely remember you now." Medusa said. "C'mon, Murphy. These people betrayed you, tossed you in prison. Be a good son and kill them."

I smiled. "Okay, mom. I wanna kill Zoe first. Can I?"

"Of course," Medusa smiled. Free grabbed Zoe roughly, while Linda stood back, looking regretful.

"Mom, should we really do this?" Linda asked. "It doesn't feel right."

"Do as I say, Linda." Medusa said.

"No. Sure, the Shibusen hate us, but it might get better if we stop attacking them." Linda said.

"Sleep!" Medusa shouted, and Linda fell to the ground like a sack of bricks. "We'll deal with her later." Medusa said, and turned to me, a warm smile on her face. "Kill Zoe, like a good boy." Medusa said.

"Yes, mom." I said, as Free placed Zoe in front of me.

"If you touch her, I'll destroy you!" Kid shouted.

"Shut up!" Free shouted. Zoe was in front of me, on her knees. Her face was towards the others, who were crying, shouting, or silent in their rage.

I transformed my arm when I noticed a girl with white hair and mismatched eyes in the crowd. "What the hell is that?" I shouted, angrily walking over to the girl. It was Isabella.

"Uh, Medusa, what's going on?" Free asked.

"Why is Isabella here!" I shouted, looking at Medusa, with tears in my eyes. "The whole reason I'm here is because I supposedly kidnapped her! Who did?"

Medusa looked down, ashamed. "We did. We couldn't get to you without kidnapping her. We didn't hurt her; you can ask her yourself. I love you, Murphy. Linda is in love with you, even if you don't know it. Free loves you like a son. These people all betrayed you. They didn't fight for you like we would. So, choose. Us or them." Medusa said. When she said that Linda loved me, Zoe whimpered, tears coming more freely.

"Alright," I said, then walked behind Zoe, transforming my arm to a scythe. "Have confidence, Zoe." I said in my Irish accent. Zoe lifted her head up, ever so slightly. Then, I lifted my arm and swung, full-force, down. Kid shouted in anger. Crona sobbed loudly. My whole family shut their eyes, afraid of what I just did.

Then, when my arm hit the ground behind Zoe, cutting the ropes she was bound in, everyone opened their eyes.

"NOW!" I roared, and Zoe stood and grabbed my left hand. I transformed into a scythe, and we both shouted "Soul Resonance!" Then, I chopped Medusa in half.

"You bastard!" Free roared.

"C'mon, fight me!" Zoe threatened.

"I'll bloody kill ya'!" I shouted, still speaking in my normal Irish accent. Soon, the Weapons in the crowd began cutting their way out of the ropes (Medusa had been using a spell to keep their powers from working; now that she was gone, the spell was gone.)

Free ran, smashing through a glass window.

I transformed back into my normal human form and helped freeing the others.

"Were you planning that all along?" Zoe asked as she freed Kid. Then, Kid gave her a bone-cracking hug.

"No. I barely remember you. I barely remember all of you." I said, untying my Dad. "But I will remember you. If you'll trust me again, and help me remember, I'll remember all of it. I'm sorry that I ran off...I...I don't have an excuse." I said, wiping tears from my eyes.

"Oh, honey." Mom said after I finished untying her. She gave me a soft hug, and said "We'll forgive you."

Everyone voiced their agreement.

I stood, and Zoe walked up to me, holding an envelope.

"Here you go." Zoe said, and quickly gave me a hug. My cheeks burned red as I opened it, and I was shocked at what it was.

"It's my birthday?" I asked.

"Yeah. Happy fifteenth birthday, Murphy." Zoe said.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Err, Murphy. Not to interrupt this touching moment, but you should really eat Medusa's soul." Aunt Kylie said.

"Alright." I said, and promptly swallowed it.

"Just like I told you." Uncle Soul said.

"What are we going to do now?" Isabella said after giving me a giant hug.

"I'm going to try to get my memory back and clear my name." I said.

"Your name will be cleared when news gets out that you killed Medusa." Dad said, giving me a hug.

**A/N: And that's the end of arc one. I hope you liked it.**

**-MN1**


	11. Chapter 11

It'd been a month since I'd turned fifteen, and I'd slowly gotten to know my friends again. Apparently, I had given Zoe much-needed confidence, Kay had became closer to me than before (not like I knew the difference; I didn't remember before,) and Ryu and I had become friends while, previously, we didn't speak much, if ever.

This chapter truly begins at a sleep-over at the apparently-new apartment Kay and I got. It was twice as big as the old one, according to Kay, and we split it down the middle, with Kay getting the left half and me getting the right half. We broke the boundaries, though, to play spin the bottle.

"Alright," Zoe said, sitting across from me. Everyone was wearing pajamas, but Zoe's was the most memorable: it had Shinigami-san's face all over them, while Linda's pajama's had snakes all over them. "Here's how we play this: when the bottle lands on you, you can choose either truth or dare. You can only pass once. We choose who makes up by going in counter-clockwise order, starting with me." Zoe said. We were sitting in this order: Zoe, Kay, Isabella, Madison, Linda, me, William, and Ryu. A new addition to Kay's group of friends was Liz and Luc's daughter, Madison. If you shortened her name, she would hit you. Hard.

"Let's do it!" I smiled, causing the others to smile. They'd began seeing me as kind of a baby; if I smiled, they smiled too. This was, apparently, because I looked cute with short hair (my hair, though back to its normal sandy blonde color, was still short.)

Zoe spun the bottle, and it landed on William. Cue several 'Oooohs!' from the girls, and several laughs from my friends and me.

"Truth." William said.

"Hmmm..." Zoe smiled cruelly. "Who do you have a crush on?"

William blushed. "Pass."

Kay spun the bottle, and it landed on Madison.

"Dare." Madison said.

"I dunno..." Kay said. "Kiss Ryu."

Ryu looked at Kay oddly, but blushed a bright red when Madison kissed him right on the lips. I laughed for a whole minute after, causing the game to temporarily stop. Nobody got it but me, though. Y'see, Kay thinks Ryu is into guys, so all the girls think that and ask him to go on shopping trips and the like. Being a nice, shy guy, he never says no. But all the guys know Ryu actually has a giant crush on Kay, though he is, in fact, bisexual. Because I lived with Kay and knew that she thought Ryu was into guys, I watched Ryu asked, over-and-over, to do girl-things with Kay, never saying 'no,' when, in fact, he hated every moment of it.

Well, not every moment; Ryu admitted that he liked Twilight.

But, anyways, I'd recently realized I should probably not sit by while Ryu, my best friend, was tortured with shopping. But the matter of 'when-do-I-tell-Kay-that-Ryu-is-into-her-and-bisexual-and-doesn't-know-that-you-think-he's-completely-into-guys' was completely confusing.

Isabella smiled, and spun the bottle. It landed on Ryu, and Ryu frowned. "Crap." He muttered.

Isabella laughed.

"Truth," Ryu sighed.

"Who do you think is hotter, William or Murphy?" Isabella asked.

I looked at Ryu's eye, seeing the twitch that had developed whenever one of the girls asked him something he hated. I didn't see how they never noticed it.

Ryu looked down and said "Murphy."

I raised my eyebrows, pretending to be shocked. In truth, he'd already told all of us that he found every single one of us unattractive, but I was still going to mess with him, and, hopefully, make it up to him later. I patted him on his back. "It's okay."

Ryu gave me a death-glare.

"My turn," Linda smiled. Linda had became great friends with the other girls, but everyone was careful not to mention Medusa around her.

"Has anyone else noticed that Dad and I are the ones who keep getting hurt?" I asked. "It's like an Irish curse or something."

"Huh. I guess that does happen." Zoe said.

"Whatever. I'm still taking my turn." Linda said, spinning the bottle. It landed on me.

"Truth," I said.

"Alright. Do you hate me for standing by when I could've helped you back when we were with mom?" Linda asked. The fun atmosphere disappeared.

"No. I couldn't hate you." I said.

Zoe glared at Linda, who was smiling at me.

"You ever been in a room where you can sense conflict?" Ryu asked. Ryu had, despite all odds, became less shy, and might soon be normal. If you can be normal in our situations, that is.

"My turn," I smiled. I spun the bottle, and it landed on Isabella. "Are you angry at me?" I asked.

"For what?" Isabella asked.

"I mean, y'know. I was with you, and should've been able to protect you from getting kidnapped." I said.

"I'm not angry at you. You're like a second little brother to me," Isabella smiled.

I smiled back. "Thanks."


	12. Chapter 12

Kay

Linda started living with us shortly after her mom died. A lot of people felt sorry for me because I had a brother with amnesia and lived with Medusa's daughter, but I never felt bad about it; Murphy had actually became less of a slacker and much more inclined to talk to me since he had amnesia, and Linda was a very kind girl. Linda slept in the guest room that was, fortunately, across from my bedroom (Linda and Murphy were dating, and both of them were attracted to each other. Which, according to the girls at school, wasn't hard; Murphy was adorable with his short haircut.)

I was walking to school with Linda when she, suddenly, said "Does Murphy have anything going on Saturday?"

"I don't think so." I said. "Why?"

"I..." Linda sighed, looking directly at me. "I'm scared. I want him to be there with me."

"Where?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm being taken to court. Everyone thinks I'm going to betray the DWMA." Linda's eyes filled with tears.

"It'll be okay, Linda." I said, giving her a hug. Linda was much like the little sister I always wanted. "Do you want to go to school today, or do you want to stay home?"

"I'll go to school," Linda said, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "Kay?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you hate me?"

"No," I said, a bit surprised.

"I mean, I was with your brother, keeping him from you." Linda said.

I patted her on the head. "It's not your fault."

Linda smiled. "Thanks."

Murphy

"I mean, why does she ask me to shop with her?" Ryu asked. "Sure, I like seeing her-she's hot!-but I don't want to help choose her clothing."

"Dude! She's my twin! Don't call her hot around me." I said.

"Oh. Sorry. I wish I could say no, but that's rude." Ryu said.

"Err, Ryu. I got something to tell you. Don't freak out when I tell you this, or, like, run up and slap Kay or anything, okay?" I said.

Ryu looked at me like I was insane.

"Kay kind of thinks you're into guys." I said.

Ryu slumped over, a giant sweat drop on his head. "Sonofa..." Ryu muttered.

**A/N: It took me nearly (or over. I'm bad at math.) anime fanfics to use a common anime thing (the giant sweat drop.) That's just odd. -MN1**

"You should probably tell her you're into her." I said.

"How do you think that would go? 'Hey, Kay, I'm not gay. And I have a giant crush on you.'" Ryu said.

"You just rhymed." I said, stopping in front of Zoe's house.

"Wait, does every girl think I'm gay?" Ryu asked.

"Um...kind of." I admitted.

"GAH!" Ryu shouted, hitting his head with his palm.

"What's up with him?" Zoe asked. Some part of me felt like I should tell her that I wanted to be with her, and the sensation was almost overwhelming. Surprisingly, I remembered a bit of my past.

"Are you angry at me because we fought?" I asked suddenly.

Zoe looked at me. "What?" She asked.

"I saw you and, like, I remembered more of my past." I said, leaving out the part where I wanted to go out with her.

"Cool!" Zoe smiled. "I'm not angry at you, Murph. You're my friend." Zoe said.

'You're my friend.' The unintentional way to kill a man who has a crush on you. I think Mom once told Dad that they were friends back when they went to DWMA. I was also told about a deserter named Xan, but that's beside the point.

"What's with Ryu?" Zoe asked.

"How do I say this?" I asked myself as Ryu stood back up straight. Ryu was a tall guy, standing a whole head above me, though he, apparently, used to be shorter than me. "Let's just make stuff up right now: what if someone you thought was homosexual was bisexual, and had a crush on one of his friends, and he was too polite to say no. Then, a certain good-looking half-Japanese, half-Irish teenager with amnesia let slip that they thought he was homosexual, and he was slumped over when a certain shinigami's attractive daughter walked out and asked what was wrong with him. What would you think?"

"Did you just say I was attractive?" Zoe asked.

'Yes, I did.' Part of me thought. "I never said it was you." I said.

Zoe smiled. "I'd say that the kid you were talking about should tell his friends."

"You heard her, Ryu. Better get to talking!" I said, patting him on the back.

Ryu pretty much shouted that he wasn't gay.

"Alright," Zoe shrugged. "It's still fun shopping with you. You're so complimenting! It's like therapy for your self-esteem." Zoe smiled.

"That makes you sound a bit shallow." I said.

Zoe took out a book with a highly-fictionalized versions of Uncle Soul, Aunt Kylie, Mom, Dad, Kid, Crona, with the villains they fought on the back.

"They wrote a book about my Dad?" I asked.

"I met your mother, by the way." Zoe said, holding the book and smiling wickedly.

"Uh, Zoe, could you stop glaring at me?" I asked.

"She taught me something." Zoe continued. "Zoe-chop!"

I fell to the ground, unconscious.


	13. Chapter 13

Zoe

"This book is nuts." Murphy said.

"Just don't read page two-hundred and eighteen," I said, holding the ice pack on Murphy's head as Dr. Stein called Riley. Apparently, since Murphy had amnesia, his parents had to be notified of every head injury he sustained.

Murphy flipped to page two-hundred and eighteen, and immediately turned green and flipped back to the page he was on. "How can they print that? This book is for teenagers!" Murphy said.

"It's just Riley and Maka making out." Zoe said.

"That's freakin' nasty!" Murphy said, and flinched as I moved the ice pack. "Ow."

"Don't be such a baby." I said.

"Hey, Zoe, do you think that I'll get my memory back if you keep hitting me on the head?" Murphy smiled.

I laughed. "Murphy, that's terrible."

Murphy shrugged. "Man, I had no idea my dad was this badass. I bet my dad could beat your dad."

"That's childish." I said. "And besides, my Dad has guns."

"My dad's got a claymore!" Murphy said. "I bet my dad could beat Ryu's dad."

"Your dad and Ryu's dad hardly ever talked to each other." I said.

"My Aunt hardly talked to Kid, but when they did talk things happened. If Kylie never talked to Kid you wouldn't exist." Murphy said.

"That isn't in the book." I said.

"I was told about my dad's adventures as a kid. I know them by heart, and I know that dad never got impaled by one of Medusa's snakes, like he did on this page. Or, I did. I recently remembered that I had been told them." Murphy said. "I also know that he didn't kill her with a butter knife."

"It says it's a butter knife?" I asked.

"No, but it would've been cool if dad killed her with one. I mean, it would've taken, like, an hour to kill her with a butter knife, but think of the stories that would've been told. 'Don't give Riley a butter knife, he'll kill you with it!'" Murphy laughed.

"You know that both you and your dad killed Medusa, right?" I asked.

"Huh. I guess we did. I ate her soul, though, so I win." Murphy said.

"I may be old, but I'll still take you on." Riley said, walking through the door. Kay and Maka were behind him.

"Mom? Dad? How'd you guys get here?" Murphy asked, a giant smile on his face.

"We've been in Death City for a day." Riley said, sitting on Murphy's bed.

"Why? Are you celebrating Kay's birthday?" Murphy asked.

"She's your fraternal twin, Murphy." I said.

"Oh. Right. I forgot." Murphy said.

"It's okay," Maka said, sitting beside him.

"We had my party the afternoon of the day you came back." Kay said.

"Oh." Murphy said. "Sorry I wasn't there."

"You got me a really good present, so it's okay." Kay said.

Murphy looked at her, confused. I always felt bad for Murphy whenever he ended up in a situation where his amnesia made him confused. It was like a five year-old being surrounded by adults, talking about things like politics; he was confused, and as much as they tried to get him up-to-speed, Murphy was still confused.

There was a plus-side to Murphy's amnesia, though: he talked with an Irish accent, and I had to fight to keep myself from smiling whenever he spoke.

"What was the present?" Murphy asked.

"You came back." Kay smiled. Linda walked in, and was surprised to see Murphy's whole family in the nurse's office.

"'Sup?" Murphy smiled. I immediately frowned. I was always frustrated around Linda and Murphy because Linda was so flirty to him. Why didn't Murphy noticed that I had a crush on him?

Oh. Right. He's a guy, and he has amnesia.

"I heard you got a head injury, and I came here." Linda said. "What are you reading?"

"What gave me my head injury." Murphy said, holding up the book. "Hey dad, did you know that there's a book written about you?"

"Yeah. It's fiction." Riley said, looking at the book. "I swear, I don't remember getting impaled. Do you remember that, Maka?"

Maka laughed. "Yeah, you got impaled. By about eight-hundred needles in the hospital."

Riley shrugged. "It's not my fault I went to the hospital all those times."

"Hey, are Aunt Kylie and Uncle Soul coming over?" Murphy asked.

"Yeah. We have to. Linda, would you kindly leave for a moment?" Riley said.

"Okay," Linda said, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

"What about me?" I asked.

"You're Zoe, aren't you?" Riley smiled. "My memory's going in my old age. Everything said in here will probably be told you to, so I don't see the point in sending you out. Good news first, or bad news first?"

"Good." Murphy, Kay, and I said simultaneously.

Riley smiled, and looked at Maka. Maka smiled back. "Alright. We know where Free is." Riley said.

"Can we go get him?" Murphy asked.

"In due time. I'll be busy, so you'll have to do it. I'd recommend getting Stein to help you." Riley said.

"What about the bad news?" Kay asked.

Riley looked down, sighed, and looked back up, his emerald eyes sad. "They're debating what should happen to Linda. All the Death Scythes are going to vote on it, while the Shibusen won't be told about it until she's either in prison for life or free as a bird."


	14. Chapter 14

Murphy

"B-But Linda didn't do anything!" I protested.

"I know. I'm for her freedom, and so is Maka." Dad said, holding Mom's hand. "We never talked to the other Death Scythes, though. My opinion will carry some weight, to be sure, but this could go either way."

"They can't just do that to Linda! She's innocent!" I said.

"Shh, Murphy." Mom said. "We'll handle it. You can't solve everything."

"Dad did." I said.

"You're father also had more brushes with death than you can count on one hand." Mom smiled.

William

_Across the school._

"Come on, William." Isabella said. My Weapon and I had a long way to go before we were able to function as friends, not just as a team. She hated me because I had bullied Murphy years ago, and, never considering how I guilty I felt of how many times I helped Murphy out to make it up, she didn't seem to care.

I yawned. "What, exactly, do you want me to do?"

"Help me out here." Isabella said.

I looked at her oddly.

"I want you to teach me." Isabella said.

"I can tell."

"So will you teach me how to use my wavelength without you?"

"I can't." I sighed.

"Why not?" Isabella asked.

"Because I can barely do it myself." I said, my eyes scanning Isabella's body. She was frustrated, resentful, and nervous. I never understood emotions like others did; while most teenagers had the 'birds and the bees' talk, I had one with Dad where I was told of emotions I couldn't feel, and about morality. I have since learned how to fake emotions, but there is one activity where my emotions shine; gardening. I find talking to flowers and such in the DWMA greenhouse soothing, and have began taking botanical studies. Teaching myself, of course; the DWMA has no botanical class, and I still have not found why we even have a greenhouse.

"That's a lie. I've seen you do it." Isabella said.

"Once or twice." I said. "It often tires me."

"Yeah, I bet Murphy got tired of you bullying him." Isabella said.

"I have tried my best to make it up to him, Isabella. I have helped him when his grades fell due to his amnesia, helped him learn how to play the guitar after forgetting how, and many other things. Murphy has even told me that, after remembering how I bullied him, he forgives me. I even have going to a movie with him tonight on my schedule." I said.

"Why did you bully him, anyways?" Isabella asked.

"To see how he would react. Everything I told him I did not truly believe. That was before I knew of morality, Isabella." I said.

"What are you talking about?" Isabella asked. "Why are you so cold? You didn't use to be like this."

"Because I acted falsely. After others began getting angry at me for my past, I acted how I was. I am like my father, and do not understand emotions such as anger, or joy for bullying a small child."

"Are you crying?"

"Yes. I understand emotions like guilt and sorrow, Isabella. I also feel the emotion of hate from you, and it's killing me. I want to go back in time, Isabella. I want to go back in time and tell my past self to treat Murphy better. But I can't." I wiped my eyes. "Now, I will try to teach you how to use your wavelength."

"You just said you couldn't." Isabella said. I read her body language again and saw several emotions: regret, sorrow, and...pity.

"I will try my best." I said.

**A/N: I used to hate William, but now I'm loving his character! -MN1**

_An hour after the lesson, in the greenhouse._

I watered the roses in the middle of the greenhouse, tired but pleased at the lesson. Isabella seemed much more inclined to speak to me, and even hugged me after the lesson, saying sorry. It made my stomach feel odd and my heart beat quicker. I must learn what this means.

"Yo! Will!" Murphy said. I stood, took my gloves off, and high-fived him.

"Hello." I said.

"How's my cold-as-ice brother?" Murphy smiled.

"I am well. How are you?" I asked.

"I got hit in the head with a book, complements of Zoe." Murphy said.

"Hey, you deserved it." Zoe said. "Hey Will."

"Hello." I nodded. I had made amends with everyone for bullying Murphy, even Murphy's parents; they were much more willing to forgive then I had expected, and I admit, I broke down when they said it was okay.

"Why are you always in the greenhouse?" Zoe asked. Her body language showed attraction to Murphy, as well as sorrow, for both Murphy and I. I am seeing sorrow towards me more often, as more people know of my 'condition,' as they call it. I tend to ignore it. I smiled, despite myself, as Murphy's body language had only hints of attraction to Zoe in it; he did not know how she felt.

"A better question is why DWMA even has a greenhouse." Murphy said, smelling a flower.

"I often use the flowers for bouquets." I said.

"Really? I mean, you, like, don't have emotions..." Zoe said, her cheeks burning red. She had spoken before realizing that her words were offensive.

"I do not right now, but I am learning." I said. "And I do know beauty when I see it."

"Huh." Zoe said. "Murph, why are you laughing?"

'Murph.' Zoe's pet-name for Murphy. Everyone but Murphy knew of Zoe's crush on him, and even Murphy knew. Or, rather, the old Murphy did. My theory is that, when or if the old Murphy begins to re-emerge, he will become attracted to Zoe and reveal his thoughts. Until then, the new Murphy was attracted to Linda. Though it may sound hypocritical, I do not trust Linda; her body language suggest that she hides something.

"'I do know beauty when I see it.'" Murphy quoted me, copying my monotone voice in his Irish accent. "That sounds like some emo pickup-line."

Zoe and Murphy laughed. I watched, taking in their faces. Then, I laughed, as well. If I stay with my friends, I may, one day, become like them. And I hope I do.

**A/N: Wow. William's a tragic freakin' hero. Never thought he'd turn out like that.**

**-MN1**


	15. Chapter 15

Murphy

"Murph, get on with it." Zoe said.

"Oh. Right." I said. "Will, we want your help. Need it, actually. We're going to kill Free, and we want you to-"

William's eyes scanned me I have to admit, William had some pretty eyes, a lot like Mrs. Stein's. And I saw a shine in them I never saw before, the spark of emotion. "I will help." William said.

"Thanks, man." I smiled.

William smiled back. He had a nice smile, even though I knew it was perfected through practice, so he could lie about having no emotions. "I will tell Isabella, and I think she will help, as well."

"Hey, do you and Isabella like each other?" Zoe asked, then blushed. I snickered, then ran behind a giant pot.

"You seem to have a habit of saying things you regret around me." William said. "Do not get embarrassed, though. Is Isabella attracted to me?"

"Um...well, she just texted me, saying that she doesn't hate you anymore, and she used to have a crush on you, so..." Zoe said. I knew that this was Zoe's way of helping William out; everyone of William's friends were shocked to find out that he had no emotions, and we all helped out in our own special way. Mine was doing things afterschool with him.

"I believe I am, should Isabella be." William said.

"Stop talking in riddles! You won't get girls that way." I said behind the pot.

"I doubt you would know how to get a girl." William smirked.

"You just got burned, Murph." Zoe laughed.

"Ouch." I said. "Burned by an emotionless teenager."

"Murphy!" Zoe scolded.

"I take it we're not going to the movie?" William asked.

"Nope. We're going to be too busy preparing to kill an immortal man..." I stopped. "Wow. That sounded good in my head, but stupid out loud."

"You don't say?" William asked sarcastically.

_In William's car, driving to a restaurant._

We were driving to a dinner Crona was having at a fancy dinner across Death City. William and Ryu looked like he was born to wear a suit, while I wore a un-tucked white dress shirt, blue jeans, and a suit jacket. Kay, Isabella, Crona, and Zoe all wore black dresses. Mom, Dad, Aunt Kylie, Uncle Soul, Kid, Dr. Stein, and Mrs. Stein all were wrapped up in Linda's hearing.

"So, how are you doing, Murph?" Zoe asked, seeming a bit nervous.

"Uh...good." I said.

William smiled, something that had been happening more often. On a completely unrelated note, more and more girls thought that William was the hottest guy and the school, and began swooning over him.

Crona held back a smile, and I noticed how truly odd people around me were.

"So, William, what's up?" Isabella asked.

William shrugged.

"Do you want to go to a movie sometime?" Isabella asked.

"Alright," William said.

Man, this car was full or people acting oddly. And this is coming from a guy who has amnesia.

Riley

This was the most boring thing I'd been through. Death Scythe says his opinion. Other Death Scythe says that's bull. Repeat for several hours.

"We have no evidence that she will betray us." A Death Scythe said.

"But we must take into account her mother's influence on her." Another Death Scythe said.

"Honey, lift your head up." Maka said.

I smiled. Maka. My other half, the woman I loved, by my side through everything.

I lifted my head and kissed Maka on the cheek.

"Do you want to get a room?" Kylie whispered to me.

I smiled deviously. "I would love one, but we have business to do."

Kylie frowned. "Eww."

Just like old times.

"Excuse me, but would the Irish Death Scythes stay on point?" A Death Scythe asked.

"What is the point, exactly? I don't fancy this repeating pattern, so why contribute?" I asked. "I killed Medusa once, and I trust her daughter. Give her a chance."

"Why take that risk?" A Death Scythe asked.

"You took risks to get here." I said. "Every Death Scythe took risks to get here. We all got those ninety-nine afreet eggs and one witch soul."

"You didn't." A Death Scythe said.

"Excuse me?" I asked, standing up.

"I don't even think you should be here." The Death Scythe said.

"Is that what I've devolved to? From 'you're a hero' to 'you don't belong here, go away'?" I asked. "What did you do for the DWMA, huh? I killed Eruka, and I killed Medusa, nearly dying both times, then destroyed Cain, and you're telling me I don't belong here?"

"Yes." The Death Scythe said.

"I challenge you to a fight. I win, you shut your damn mouth and take my side. You win, and I'll leave, and I'll be back to Ireland." I said.

"Gentlemen, you can't-" Another Death Scythe began.

"We're not getting anything else done? Rye and I'll fight you all if we have to! We're not going to let a girl's life be ruined by you guys!" Kylie said.

I smiled. "Let's get to it."

Maka shook her head, smiling. "Classic Riley, fighting to protect others. Try not getting in the hospital, okay?"

"Alright, Maka." I said, giving her a big hug.


	16. Chapter 16

Murphy

When I got to DWMA, I was surprised- as was the other students -when I saw the giant cracks in the floor. Then, when I got to my home room, I was even more surprised when I heard that those were caused by my father fighting someone.

I was also quoted as calling Dad the 'ultimate Irish badass.'

Ryu

I wasn't feeling too good. I was waiting for Kay, and I felt like I was about to throw up.

When Kay walked out of her room, she turned and saw me leaning up against the wall.

"Hey Ryu." Kay smiled.

"We need to talk." I said.

"What about?" Kay asked.

"Right." I sighed. "You know how you keep inviting me to girl-stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Well, one of my friends told me that you think I'm gay, and, well, I'm not."

Kay was very, very surprised. And embarrassed; but she was so cute when she blushed, it was a struggle not to smile.

"Really?" Kay asked.

"Yeah. I'm bisexual." I said.

"Sorry." Kay said.

"It's okay. Honestly, I enjoyed some of it." I said. "Not the shopping, but some of the movies were cool."

Kay smiled. "Who told you I thought you were...y'know."

"Uh...Well, two people have known, one of them a girl." I said.

See what I did there? I accidentally underestimated Kay; Kay was a smart girl, and underestimating her was never a good idea, just like underestimating any girl.

"Zoe and Murphy." Kay said.

"Huh? How'd you know?" I asked.

"You all walk together during the day, and anything Murphy tells anyone is usually to Zoe. Hey, do you think that Zoe and Murphy should go out?" Kay asked.

Tell her that you and her should go out! Inner Ryu thought.

"Yeah. It's obvious." I smiled, and saw a flyer for the Annual DWMA Ball. "Huh. That annual thing's soon." I lied; I knew it was soon.

"Wanna go?" Kay asked.

"Alright." I said, and handed Kay a ticket. "When should I come and get you?"

Kay was surprised. "How'd you get tickets that fast?"

"I'm a ninja." I said, smiling. "I'm fast like that."

In truth, I bought the ticket as soon as they started selling them, hoping to ask Kay out, but I was too nervous to ask her until then.

**A/N: Ryu's so cute :D -MN1**

Murphy

I don't exactly know how I got into a classroom alone with my friends with instruments, but I did, and we were rocking out. I have to admit, I had no idea that Zoe was such a good singer, or that William could play drums that well, or that Isabella was a bassist, but they all were. I, of course, was the guitarist.

We weren't playing anything in particular, really. We were just playing the instruments to our own beat, laughing and playing around, wailing on our chosen instrument. It was very heat-of-the-moment, and very, very fun. I was playing Bastards of Young, singing the lyrics as best I could, while Zoe was sitting, singing My Chemical Romance songs and Fall Out Boy songs. When I could, I'd play along, like when Zoe started singing Tiffany Blews.

Isabella and William, the 'hottest couple of DWMA this month,' as Teen Meister called them, were rocking out together. William was ambidextrous, and was very robotic, calculating which drum to hit, or what rhythm to hit it to.

**A/N: You can tell I have no experience with drums. Singing and guitar, however, is what I am experienced with. -MN1**

Isabella was one of the best bassists I'd ever seen, and the way that William and Isabella were playing was like a competition as well as a partnership: one moment William would be leading Isabella, while the other moment William would be struggling to keep up to Isabella's crushing bass riffs.

It was very magical, and very, very against the rules. Like any of us cared, really.

Kay walked in to the ragtag rock-out, and said "Murphy and Zoe, did you know that Ryu wasn't into guys?"

I write that she said it because Kay didn't say it like a question; she said it like a statement, quoting it from the freakin' testaments of Kay McConnell.

Quoting from the freakin' testaments of Murphy McConnell: 'Thou are screwed, dude.'

"Uh..." I said, playing Feel Good Inc. "Maybe. A little."

"It'd have been nice to tell me. I had a crush on him before I thought he was into guys." Kay said.

"Wow. As Yuko would say, 'there are no coincidences, just destiny.'" I said.

"If you quote xxxHolic again, I swear I _will_ burn your manga." Kay said.

"Ouch. That hurt my soul." I said, sniffling like I was crying. Then, both Zoe and I broke out laughing. The laughter turned infectious, and soon the whole room was laughing.

You know the saying, 'it's always darkest before the dawn'? Is there a saying 'it's always brightest before the darkness takes over'?


	17. Chapter 17

Zoe

Everyone was getting a date for the Ball, and Mom noticed that I didn't have one.

"So, Zoe." Mom said, sitting down beside of me.

"Hey Mom." I said. "What's up? How's Linda's trial?"

"Riley beat up a Death Scythe who said he didn't deserve to be there, so now the vote's fifty-fifty." Mom sighed. I know it was difficult for her; Linda looked like Medusa. But Mom was handled it well when I started hanging out with Linda, and seemed to be over her mild fear of Linda.

I laughed. "Murphy would do the same thing for one of his friends."

"My female intuition tells me you want to be more than friends with Murphy." Mom said.

I blushed. "Really?"

"It's actually kind of obvious." Mom said.

"Oh jeez..." I blushed even brighter. "Who's noticed?"

"Everyone but Murphy." Mom said.

"What's with Murphy? How come he can't tell?" I asked.

"He's a boy." Mom said. "Boys aren't that smart."

I giggled. "Yeah. Should I invite him to the ball?"

"How about you make a move at him during the ball?" Mom said. "It worked out well for my best friend when I went to the DWMA."

"Really? Who was your friend?" I asked.

"Maka McConnell, Murphy's mother. Maka's still my best friend in the world, besides your Dad." Mom smiled.

William

I had been going out with Isabella with a few days, and I already felt a noticeable change in my disposition. I started laughing without making myself, getting happy at things, and feeling more emotions than I previously had. My Dad had it right; a woman can make all the difference. Dad had said that, before he met Mom, he did not feel many emotions, but after dating her he started feeling things he had never felt before.

And Isabella was making me feel the same way. Thus, it was obvious that I would take her to the ball.

I walked up to her, smiling.

"You know, I love your smile." Isabella said, smiling herself. "Are you faking it?"

"No." I said. "I would like for you to come to the dance with me."

"Oh yeah, the dance! Sure, I'd love to." Isabella said, giving me a hug. I kissed her, surprising her; we had not kissed yet, due to the fact that I had never kissed a girl before, and that I had never felt so many emotions. Isabella was a smart girl, though, and kissed me back.

"Hm. You're a better kisser than I thought." Isabella smiled, and, suddenly, the bell rung.

"Goodbye for now, Isabella." I said. As I watched Isabella walk away, her white hair giving her a slightly ethereal appearance, I knew that I was in love with her.

Murphy

I walked through the hallway when someone ran up to me, hitting me on the shoulder with her binder.

"Hey Zoe." I smiled.

"You know how we were playing out instruments yesterday?" Zoe asked, excited.

"Yeah. How did we manage to get those in there, anyways?" I asked.

Zoe thought about it. "Y'know, I don't really know."

Once again, I felt the urge to kiss her. This time, I wasn't able to hold myself back as much, walking towards her a small bit.

_'Do it, stupid.'_ I thought.

'Wait, what?'

"Murph. Earth to the Irishman!" Zoe called.

"Huh? Oh." I said. "What's up?"

"They want us to play at the dance!" Zoe smiled.

"That's awesome!" I smiled. In a flash, Zoe and I both jumped up and down, hugging each other.

"Knew you two were a good couple." Ryu said, walking by.

"I thought you were shy!" I called after him.

"That's not what your mama said last night!" Ryu laughed.

"I will chase you down!" I shouted, then chuckled. "Freaking ninjas."

"Assassin." Zoe said.

"Is there really a difference."

"I think so."

I shrugged. "Want to practice at my house the next few days?"

"Sure." Zoe smiled. "I'll tell Isabella and William, since you don't have a cell phone."

"It's not my fault I couldn't remember the numbers, even before I had amnesia." I said.


	18. Chapter 18

Two weeks later, Kyle had gotten used to the sand village, and got his ears pierced (for no reason other than that he realized no one would complain about it; the sand siblings were all 'the mission is first' not 'what clothes are you wearing?')

"We're won't pretend that this is the end, we're not losers all the time!" Kyle sang, walking down the hallway to my room. After making sure that it was my room, Kyle opened the door and picked up his mail off the floor. Then, he shut his door and said "Why are you in my room?"

"How'd you know I was here?" Temari asked.

"I've been blind for nearly four months, if not more." Kyle said, sitting on his bed and taking his eye bandages off to read the mail.

"Who's your mail from?" Temari asked.

"My friends." Kyle said.

"I thought we were friends." Temari said. She had gotten more playful with Kyle over the weeks he'd been there.

"Yeah, but you don't send me mail. Shikamaru sends you some, though." Kyle said, handing her an envelope.

"How'd you get this!"

"It's called an accident. Y'know, mailman gives me your mail instead of mine. Chill."

Temari held the mail to her chest defensively.

"It's not like I read it," Kyle said. "If it makes you feel any better you can read one of my letters."

Temari looked through the pile, and smiled when she got to Aneko's letter. "This one."

"Why?"

"It's pretty obvious Aneko has something for you."

"Huh?"

"You didn't notice, did you?" Temari sighed. "Idiot."

Kyle thought about it, then opened a letter by Sakura. It read: 'Hey Kyle. We're really missing you in Konohagakure. I feel a bit guilty that you lost your eyesight, but I know you'd just say something along the lines of "it's not your fault." Anyways, how are you doing?'

Kyle chuckled, and wrote a quick response. 'Good,' he wrote. 'I got so much sand in my sandals, though, I doubt I'll ever get it out. And you're right: it's not your fault.'

"Not into writing long letters?" Temari asked.

"My friends write short letters so I don't keep my eyes uncovered for long." Kyle explained. "And I don't write long ones so my eyes aren't uncovered for long. I'm sensitive to light."

"Oh." Temari said. "What's in that box?"

Kyle shrugged, and quickly opened it. "Huh. It's from Tsunade." Kyle said, reading a small piece of paper.

"What's it say?" Temari asked.

"'Hope it fits.'" Kyle read, and took out a headband with a small dent in the bottom. It was for the leaf village.

"Why did she send you a dented headband?" Temari asked.

"It's not dented. It's fitted." Kyle said. "I lost my old headband when I lost my eyes. This one works as a headband-" Kyle put the headband over his eyes, and the dent is where his nose was "-and to cover my eyes."

"But it's not for the sand village." Temari noted.

Kyle shrugged. "Everything can't be correct." Kyle tied the headband, then slid it down around his neck. "How do I look?"

"Good." Temari said.

Kyle picked up another letter, and quickly read it. "Huh. Naruto just asks what kind of ramen they have here."

Temari shook her head. "He's pretty stupid."

"He has his moments, I suppose," Kyle shrugged. "Can I read Annie's letter now?"

"Who's?" Temari asked.

"Aneko's. I call her Annie as, like, a pet name."

"Why?"

"Because the red lines under names like Aneko annoy me." Kyle said.

Temari looked at him, exasperated.

"I'll start whining. _Teeeeemmmmmaaaaaaarrrriiiii! Gimme my leeeeeetter!_" Kyle whined.

Temari laughed, handing Kyle the letter. "Y'know, you're a really nice girl. It sucks I used to think you were a bi-"

Temari glared at him.

"Onto the letter!" Kyle said, laying back in his bed. "Right. 'How are you doing, Kyle? I hope the desert sun isn't frying your eyes or your brain. Not that there's much to fry.'"

Kyle stopped when Temari laughed.

"Hardy-har-har. I hope she knows I could think that means there's not too much to fry with my eyes."

"I think she means both your eyes and your brain." Temari said.

"Keep laughin', pigtails." Kyle said. "'It's pretty dull without you-'"

Right on cue, Temari let out an 'ooooh!'

"'And we're missing you. Well, Kakashi doesn't show it, but the only emotion he shows is love for those Make-Out Tactics books.' True." Kyle shrugged. "'Since this is a letter and I can't be interrupted, I _need_ to tell you this. I-'"

**A/N: Suspense!**

**-MN1**


	19. Chapter 19

Murphy

"An abandoned warehouse. Of course. Where else would you fight an immortal man?" Isabella said, appearing in the reflection of her scythe blade.

Ryu shrugged in the reflection of his dagger blade.

"Raise your hand if you're nervous." I said.

"You're a scythe. You don't have hands." Kay said.

"Oh yeah..." I said.

William walked up to the garage door of the warehouse, his mouth a straight line.

"This will be dangerous." William said. "Do we remember the plan?"

"Yes. _The plan._ We must stick to _the plan_." I said, suddenly speaking monotone when I said 'the plan.' "Battle plans don't work when the fighting begins."

"How do you know?" Isabella asked.

"Dad never had one. He said he planned up until the fighting began, then it was improvisation." I said. "Hey! I remembered that!"

"Guys! What was that sound?" Zoe asked.

Then, a freakin' werewolf busted through the garage door, sending William flying.

Riley

"Final vote," Kid said. "Everything is equal. Let's vote again."

"Kid," I raised my hand.

"Yes, Riley?" Kid asked.

"May I have permission to bite my tongue off and drown myself in blood?" I asked, then remembered the sounds I heard in my coma, and turned green.

"Hey, one of the Death Scythes of the Emerald Isle is emerald now!" The Death Scythe I beat up called.

I ran towards him, feeling like I was going to throw up. In hindsight, I shouldn't have ate Soul's cooking, but Maka and Kylie were having a girl's night out, and I won the coin-toss.

William

I was tossed through the air, spinning. I ignored the shrapnel entering my flesh and used Isabella, stabbing her into the ground to stop myself (spinning while landing would have broken my ankle, making me a burden to the team.)

I shot forward, focusing on Free. He had several open spots, due to his focus on Zoe and Murphy, so Kay was able to use Ryu as I had instructed her: stabbing places that would slow Free down, like the back of the knees, or the ankles.

Kay stabbed Ryu into one such place, and Free collapsed, roaring "GODDAMN SHIT!" Free blindly swung his claws, but Zoe quickly thought of what to do, cutting Free's arm off at the elbow.

Free's arm grew back and he swatted the other two off, sending them flying back.

"Bloody hell," Murphy muttered.

I attacked, stabbing Free in the shoulder.

Kylie

I think the whole assembly was surprised to see Rye puke all over the Death Scythe he wiped the floor with.

"He ate your cooking, didn't he?" I asked, whispering to my husband.

Soul snickered. "Yeah. I've never been so proud of my cooking."

I playfully slapped Soul. "You're evil."

"You know you love it," Soul said, showing his trademark crooked smile.

Zoe

I propped myself up and watched William fight Free. William, at first, stabbed the werewolf in the shoulder, then attempted to drag the scythe down, but Free slapped him off, sending William flying back, smashing against the ground.

William hopped up, wasting no time in attacking Free again, spinning and cutting the werewolf's hand off.

"You're. Pissing. Me. Off!" Free said, emphasizing his final sentence with a large punch to William. I heard a crack, and ran forward, raising my scythe.

Maka

I put my head in my hands, embarrassed. My husband had just puked all over a Death Scythe that he'd beaten up.

"Sorry," Riley said. "Soul's cooking sucks. Let's get on with the voting."

"Do either of you want to leave?" Kid asked.

"Nah, I'm fine." Riley lied. It was obvious he wasn't; he was pale, and a bit sweaty.

"No," the Death Scythe said. You have to give him credit: he was covered in puke and still soldiered on.

A Death Scythe in the back, however, ran off, holding his mouth.

"Are we all ready to vote _now_?" Kid asked.

"Yeah." Riley said.

William

The next few moments felt like hours, if only to me. Free swung his fist at me, aiming to break my ribs. The attack would have immobilized me, or killed me.

But Isabella, my angel, changed to her beautiful human form, pushing me back. However, she put her other arm where Free's fist was headed.

The crack was louder than any mountain breaking in half, or any thunderstorm that the world had ever, or would ever, see.

Zoe cut off Free's hand, and looked to see if Free had, indeed, killed me. What Zoe saw was a supposedly-emotionless teenager, crying over his girlfriend, who's bone was sticking out of her chest.

Riley

"When did it get so bloody hot?" I asked, wiping my head.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Maka asked.

I smiled. "What did I do to deserve you? I swear I never saved any burning orphanages."

"Who wants to free Linda?" Kid asked.

I raised my hand, with no little effort.

"Who wants to imprison her for life?" Kid asked.

I don't know how many people raised their hands, but quite a few did.

"I will be back with the results soon." Kid said.

"I feel real bad, Maka." I said, laying my head on the desk. "Remember when we met?"

"Yeah. You were carrying Kylie, if I remember correctly." Maka said, smiling.

"Where'd my youth go? You look so beautiful...just like when I met you." I said.

Maka smiled. "Thanks."

"I feel really hot." I said.

"The results are back, Riley." Maka said, helping me lift my head up.

"It appears that Linda will be...freed." Kid said.

"Yeah!" Kylie shouted, and tried to high-five me. Instead, she saw me face-down, bleeding from my nose.

Ryu

While Zoe fought Free, I took charge.

"Kay, help Isabella. I'll fight with Zoe." I said.

"Huh?" Kay asked. "Ryu, what about the-"

"Screw the plan!" I shouted, running at Free. "Save Isabella!"

Free clawed at me, but I jumped over it and kicked him in the face, sending him flying back.

"Yo, Ryu, why are you here?" Murphy asked.

I changed my hand into a blade. "To help you with my assassin-badassness, of course!"

"I got Irish badassness!" Murphy said. "We don't need your assassin-"

"I got girl badassness, so shut up and kill this guy!" Zoe shouted.

The awkward silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Maka

Riley was in the hospital, and I was sitting beside him, holding his hand. He hadn't woken up yet, but the doctor said he'd be fine.

I kissed him on the forehead, feeling very sad. I always feared Riley dying, more than an average wife would fear their husband dying; Riley had been very injured during his life, and I always feared that the injuries would catch up to him. While the rest of the world either built the image that Riley was superman or that he was overrated, a built the image that he was vulnerable.

"Don't do that," Riley said, looking at me with his emerald eyes.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Cry. Or make that face you make when you're afraid I'm going to die." Riley said.

"I can't help it," I said, and Riley sat up, giving me a hug.

"Don't worry for me. I'm the one who worries for others." Riley said. "That's how it's always been; that's how it'll always be. I took on the duty, and I'll gladly fight to help others until I can't. Then, I'll keep going on."

**A/N: That bit almost made me cry. Damn the slower parts of 'This Is War'! (By 30 Seconds To Mars.) -MN1**

Zoe

While William and Kay helped move Isabella so that they could begin helping her (yeah, you're not supposed to move injured people. You're also not supposed to fight werewolves) I fought Free. Ryu could only do so much, really, and when he began breathing heavily, obviously tired from jumping around so much, I said "Help the others! I'll take it from here!"

"What?" Ryu asked. "I can't he-"

"Help them or I'll cut you in half." I threatened.

Ryu jumped back, then ran to the others.

"What was that for?" Murphy asked.

"We gotta finish this. Isabella's bleeding, William's a wreck, and Kay and Ryu can't help us kill this thing while helping Isabella out." Zoe said. "We need to resonate souls, Murphy."

Then, in a flash, I remembered the fight Zoe and I had. And I realized that no, we probably weren't ready.

But to hell with that attitude. I was giving it my all, and we were going to use Soul Resonance like nobody had seen before.

"Alright." I said.

And both of us shouted "Soul Resonance!"

I changed into a giant, glowing green scythe. I had been blue with Linda, and I knew why I was the normal color my family seemed to glow when resonating: I had found the partner I was supposed to be with.

Zoe frowned, determined, and jumped, spinning in midair.

"Take this!" Zoe shouted, shooting the attack at Free.

It sliced him in half, diagonally, and he laughed. "That won't kill me!"

"Maybe this will!" Zoe said, shooting a giant attack at Free. That attack, however, turned into several hundred- if not thousand -attacks, chopping Free to bits.

And, finally, the immortal had been killed, by an Irish teenager and a shinigami.

I fell to the ground, turning human. I felt like I was on fire.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked.

I looked directly into her eyes, and kissed her, right on her pale lips. Then, I stood, struggling to stand straight. Zoe was shocked silent.

"We overdid it," I groaned. "We'll worry later. We need to help the others."

"You kissed me." Zoe said.

"I love you, Zoe. There's this part of me that's been saying I have, and I'm done ignoring that part. The old me loves you, and I'm going with him. Maybe you don't feel the same, but if you do, I'd like you to go to the dance with me." I said. "But you can tell me after we save my cousin."

"Alright," Zoe nodded, her cheeks pink.

**A/N: I told you I'd make it up to you last chapter. This chapter is two chapters long, full of action, and has the romance that has been building up the whole series. And, it's the end to the second arc.**

**-MN1**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: This will be the only arc I've ever named on (as of yet.) I like to call it 'The Longest Night of My Life.' -MN1**

Murphy

Kay was wearing a black dress. I was wearing a suit- not just a suit jacket with an un-tucked dress shirt and jeans, but the whole thing, tie and all. I had a rose, grown by William, for Zoe.

"Smile!" Mom said, taking a picture of me and Kay.

"Mom!" I groaned, but still smiled.

"Make sure to get home before eleven." Mom said.

"Unless the party's awesome." Dad smiled. "Then stay until the music stops."

I laughed, and hugged Mom and Dad goodbye. Kay did the same, and we were off.

William

I was at Isabella's house. Her parents were still around, waiting to go back to Ireland after the ball. I lifted my hand, about to knock on the door, then thought better of it and wiped off my sweaty palms on my pants.

Why did my stomach feel so odd?

The door opened, and Isabella was surprised, but in a good way. "Hey William! How long have you been out here? You look cold."

I was. I was very cold. Not that I noticed it: I was too busy wondering if my hair was fixed correctly.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"Come in, first." Isabella said. "Meet my mom and dad."

The feeling I had in my stomach increased.

Zoe

"Do you think Murph will like my hair down?" I asked. "He's only ever seen it in a ponytail."

"I like your hair when it's down." Mom said. Dad did too: it was symmetrical, because my lines of sanzu went horizontally across the bottom of my hair.

I let my pink strand of hair dangle in front of my eyes.

"Why do you do that?" Mom asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I guess it comforts me."

Mom nodded. "I know how that is."

The doorbell rang and I smiled. I had to admit, I looked good in a red dress.

Murphy

I leaned against the wall, Kay standing with Ryu (we decided to walk together, so if any of us got hypothermia the others could get help. Dad laughed when he heard Mom say that.)

When Zoe walked out, wearing a red dress, her long, black hair down her back and on her pale shoulders, and her pink strand of hair hanging down in front of her beautiful eyes, my jaw dropped.

Zoe walked up to me and closed my jaw, smiling nervously.

"I take it that Murphy thinks you look good." Crona said.

"Bye mom! Bye dad!" Zoe said, then turned to me.

I nervously handed her a rose, and realized that I probably looked really nerdy.

Zoe smiled, took the rose, and put it behind her ear. It made her look even more beautiful.

"Ready?" Zoe asked.

I nodded, my mouth dry.

_'Man up!'_ Something inside of me shouted.

'Screw you, buddy!'

_'I'm you!'_

'Oh.'

Zoe held out her arm, and, suddenly, black smoke appeared, with a skateboard on the pavement.

"Hey, it's Lucifer." Kay said.

"Satan's a skateboard. Huh." I said.

"No, the skateboard's called Lucifer." Zoe said. "It can fly."

"Really? Can you fly it?" I asked.

"Not with a dress on." Zoe said.

My face burned red.


	21. Chapter 21

Kay

I watched the ragtag band Murphy was in get on the stage. The school thought that they were an actual band when, in fact, Zoe and Isabella agreed to their offer of playing at the Ball to surprise everyone. Murphy agreed because he couldn't resist 'good times,' as he said. William was pretty much game for anything you threw at him.

"Right. We're DWMB, and we're ready to play. You guys ready to listen?" Zoe asked. DWMB stood for Death Weapon Meister Band.

A few people said yes. I was one of them, and so was Ryu.

"Then let's do it!" Zoe said, and Isabella counted to three. And, on three, the whole band began playing the Stance Punks song 'I Wanna Be.'

Linda

There was loud music playing above me, but I ignored it, instead opting to watch the cell door open. Kid stood, his hands behind his back, completely symmetrical.

"You are formally released. DWMA is sorry for putting you inside of a cell, and-" Kid began. I just walked by him.

"I'm gonna go to my home. Am I still allowed to go to the ball?" I asked.

"Yes. You are now, officially a student again." Kid said.

"Is Murphy at the ball?" I asked, turning to look him in the eye.

"Yes. He went with my daughter, actually." Kid said.

I clenched my teeth, but kept an apathetic facial expression. Murphy going to the dance was not part of my plan!

"I guess I'll see him there." I said, and left to go home.

Murphy

We walked off the stage, grinning like idiots. The crowd loved us!

"You're shredding like mad out there!" Isabella said, patting me on the back.

"You're the one busting lungs out there." I laughed.

"Zoe, you are a fantastic singer." William said.

"You're the best drummer I've seen." Zoe smiled.

"I'm gonna go get some fresh air." I said, kissing Zoe on the lips quickly. If I did anything more than that I wouldn't have been able to stop myself.

"I want to get something." William said.

"Come back soon." Zoe said, blushing, as I walked to the balcony. "Isabella and I'll talk to the crowd and see how Kay and Ryu are doing."

"Alright." I smiled, looking down at Death City.

Linda

I quickly went into my room, finding my items untouched. I put on a gold locket, but not before I looked at the picture inside of it: a picture of Mom and I.

You see, I didn't hate Murphy because of what he did to Mom. I hated everyone else. And they were going to pay. I'd been dosing myself up full of black blood, but I needed a Weapon; that was Murphy. But his old personality knew what was going on, and didn't want any part of it.

"He'll have a part of it," I giggled. "The new Murphy can't resist me!"

"The old Murphy can. And, it seems, the two personalities have crashed together." Mom said, sitting on my bed. "You know the saying. Hell hath no fury..."

"Like a woman scorned." I finished. I kicked my door open, smashing the wood, walked angrily to the kitchen, and got a knife, just like the one that killed Mom when Riley fought her, putting it inside my purse. Then, I put on a black dress I'd bought just for the ball.

Then, to test my abilities, I summoned a snake, just like the ones Mom used.

"DWMA's gonna have a hell of a time fighting me." I said.

"Wait a few years, sweetie." Mom said. "For tonight, however, kill Murphy. Make sure no one knows, though."

"Kill Murphy." I said. "No, I won't. If he'll help me."

"Good girl," Medusa cooed. "Off you go."

And I left the empty apartment in a storm, a crazed bloodlust growing.

**A/N: That surprised even me. Murphy, you'd better go along with her**

**-MN1**


	22. Chapter 22

Murphy

I felt a sudden chill, and I turned around. And, standing there, was Linda. She wore a black dress, a gold locket, and boots. The look in her eye was insane, and I immediately took a step back, bumping against the railing.

"Hey Murphy." Linda said, sounding for all the world an innocent and happy teenage girl.

"Hey, Linda, you got out." I smiled.

"Thanks to your father." Linda smiled. It wasn't a happy smile like from when we were with Medusa. It was a smile showing that her head wasn't on right.

"Yeah. He got sick during the trial, you know." I said. "The doctor still doesn't know what happened."

"Who knows, really?" Linda asked. "Well, I do. Weird what a little snake can do." Linda giggled insanely.

'Oh piss, oh piss, oh piss!' I thought.

**A/N: Murphy sound so much like Riley there. -MN1**

"You poisoned Dad?" I asked.

"Just a little, to see what I could do." Linda said.

"You broke me out of prison using magic." I said.

"Oh. Really?" Linda asked.

'Run, dude! Run!' I thought.

"Um, Linda, I gotta go..." I lied.

"Did you come here with another girl?" Linda asked.

'Feet don't fail the Irishman!' I thought.

"I'm sorry, Linda, but I love Zoe." I said. "Part of me wants to be with her, more than I want to be with anyone. I remember my past around her, and I feel better about the things I can't remember. I can't explain it."

"Okay." Linda said, and took a knife from her purse, shoving it in my stomach.

I coughed blood up. "What the hell?"

Linda kissed me, and pulled back, licking my blood off of her lips.

"We'd have been such a cute couple." Linda said, looking completely insane. Then, she pushed me off the railing. As I fell, I saw her walk away, not hearing a single sound other than the air rushing as I fell. Then, I smashed through the greenhouse ceiling, dying quickly.

Zoe

I saw Ryu and Kay dancing, and was pleasantly surprised when I saw them kiss. I turned around when Isabella walked up to me.

"Hey, these girls wanna talk to you." Isabella said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Then want to know how you got your hair like that." Isabella said. "Y'know, I always wondered how you got your hair like that. It looks really good."

"My hair naturally grows like this." I said.

"Even the pink strand of hair?"

"Yeah. It surprised my parents, too."

"Huh. Still, they like your singing, and want to talk to you." Isabella said.

"Okay then." I said. After talking with them for a while, I went back to where Murphy was, only there was a problem:

Murphy was gone.

"Murph?" I asked, looking around. "Dude, we gotta get back on stage soon!"

"Zoe," Isabella said, walking up to me. "Where's William?"

"I don't know. Where'd he go?"

"He never said." Isabella said.

"I'll go ask Mrs. Stein. Maybe she'll know. You go ask Dr. Stein." I said.

"Hey, why do we call Mrs. Stein that? I mean, she used to be called Ms. Marie, so why don't we, like, call her Mrs. Marie? Her first name didn't change." Isabella said.

I shrugged. "I guess she just liked being married to Dr. Stein that much."


	23. Chapter 23

Ryu

Zoe walked up to Kate and I, looking a bit flustered. "We need your help." Zoe said.

"What's up?" I asked.

"We can't find Murph or William." Zoe sighed, putting her pink strand of hair behind her ear. "We've looked in the bathrooms, the classrooms, the band rooms, everywhere."

"How'd you get in the boy's bathrooms?" I asked.

"Shut up, Ryu." Zoe said.

"We'll look for them, okay?" Kay said when, suddenly, Linda walked up to us. Her hair was greasy, her eyes were unfocused, and I swear there was blood on her hands. In short, she didn't look right.

"Hey," Linda smiled. I immediately took a step back.

"Linda, is there blood on your hands?" Kay asked. Linda looked at her hands.

"Oops. I thought I killed Murphy without getting blood on me," Linda giggled.

"Wha-!" I said when, suddenly, the door was kicked open. And there, in the doorway, was William and Murphy, smiling insanely. Their mouth were full of sharp teeth, and each of them had one of their sleeves rolled up, and a hole, like they injected themselves with something. Murphy looked disheveled, with dried blood from an apparently-healed wound.

William looked slightly worse. William had dried blood on his shirt front, and the knees of his pants were ripped, his jacket was missing, and he had no tie.

Then, William held out his hand, and Murphy took it, changing into a scythe with a long, crooked blade.

William laughed, tossing his head back. "Hey Linda! It's hard to kill Irishmen!"

"Damn right!" Murphy laughed.

"Evacuate the building!" Sid shouted, flinging a door open. As everyone ran away, Zoe, Kay, Isabella, and I stood still. Linda ran at Murphy and William, frowning angrily, several snakes coming out of her back.

"What is going on?" I muttered.

William

_The greenhouse, shortly after performing._

I walked into the greenhouse, looking at the roses in the middle of the greenhouse. I began picking them, wanting to give them to the angel that was Isabella. However, destiny had other ideas for me, and as I approached the roses something crashed through the window, destroying my flowers.

I jumped back, narrowly avoiding several cuts by glass, then I gingerly approached the thing that crashed through the greenhouse top when I found that it was not some_thing_, but some_one_.

"Murphy!" I exclaimed, getting down beside him on my knees, the glass cutting my knees.

Murphy looked at me, his eyes watery from pain. "Help," He croaked.

I took my jacket off and put it on his wound, applying pressure to stop the blood. There was no way I knew of to heal a wound this severe without medical supplies I did not have.

"Linda." Murphy said. "Betrayed."

I understood immediately, my mind racing. Then, I knew of something that would help us. Riley had used it, and Soul had used it, so Riley might have a tolerance to it.

"Murphy," I said, "I will be back soon."

Murphy moaned, his eyes hazy. I ran to the school, opening the door silently, then I pressed myself against the wall, listening carefully. Should I have been found, they would have sent me back to the dance, keeping me from the only hope I knew of that Murphy had.

When I was about to walk across the dark hallway, I heard a voice.

"William! Murphy!" Isabella called.

I crouched in the darkness, taking silent breaths as Isabella walked by me, not knowing of my presence.

"Where are they?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know. Let's go back to Ryu and Kay," Isabella sighed.

I saw Father's room, quick flashes of the objects within the medical cabinets playing in my head. I knew of a secret compartment in his drawer, the second-to-last one on the right side, that even Father had forgotten about.

The compartment had nothing in it but two bottles, filled with contaminated blood, one from Riley and one from Soul. They were as old as me, I knew, but black-blood never went bad.

I sneaked across the room, opening the door silently as Isabella and Zoe's heels clicked on the school floor. Then, I got two syringes, rubber tubing, and the vials of blood, and went back to the greenhouse.

"Murphy," I said, rolling up his sleeve. "I am going to inject you with your father's blood. It has black-blood in it. I will inject myself with Soul Evan's blood."

"Why?" Murphy asked, flinching as I punctured his skin with his syringe.

"I am not letting you take the ride yourself, Murphy." I said. "We will attack Linda, and probably be prosecuted."

I finished injecting Murphy and rolled my sleeve up.

"Good times, huh?" Murphy smiled.

I nodded, filling my veins with Soul's blood. "Good times."


	24. Chapter 24

William

I was watering black roses, content in the room with black-and-red tiles. I had a suit exactly like Soul's, just as Murphy had a suit like Riley's.

Murphy sat in a chair, seeming a bit aloof.

"Are you alright, Murphy?" I asked, smiling faintly.

"Dad told me about this as a kid," Murphy said. "I remember everything. I remember all fifteen years of my life."

"That's great," the demon-thing said.

"Why didn't you let me die, William?" Murphy asked.

"I could not let my friend die. We have bought the tickets, Murphy. We are taking the ride." I said, sitting beside him and crossing my long legs.

Riley

I was laying down on the couch, my head on Maka's lap.

"DWMA hasn't changed much," I sighed.

Maka ran her hand through my hair. "Remember that time everyone thought you betrayed the DWMA?"

"Aye." I smiled. "I nearly got myself killed."

"Like always." Maka said.

I chuckled. "Yeah. You ever think that I'm immortal?"

"No. I just think it's the luck of the Irish." Maka smiled.

I remember when both Maka and I were first married. We weren't alone for our whole honey moon, and by the end of our stay in Hawaii I nearly knocked Spirit out (whenever I was in a room with Maka, he'd kick the door in, sit between us, and say 'what's up?') Not that I cared; being with Maka was enough for me.

"Luck o' the Irish, huh? How lucky is that?" I asked, kissing Maka deeply. Of course, someone had to ring the doorbell. I sighed, stood up, and answered the door.

Zoe was standing, freaked out. Her shoes were off, so she was barefoot, and she had tears in her eyes.

"Something's wrong with Murphy." Zoe said. "Something happened between Linda and him, and he went insane, and he and William's fighting her in the middle of the dance!"

I immediately went to the phone, calling Kylie.

"Where's Isabella?" Maka asked, hugging Zoe comfortingly.

"S-She's still at the school. She wanted to-to..." Zoe broke down.

"Meet you there," I said, and turned to Zoe. "I need to go. Zoe, what do you want to do?"

"I want to help, in any way I can." Zoe said.

I smiled. "No wonder Murph likes you. That's something Maka would say. Get in the car, and we'll meet Kylie there."

Isabella

William shot forward, slicing at Linda. Linda, however, blocked Murphy with her snakes, causing sparks to shoot up.

"I smell black-blood!" Linda screeched, flying back.

William just snickered, running after Linda and swinging Murphy without care.

I was wondering what to do when someone grabbed me, pulling me out of the door.

"Get off!" I shouted.

"When I was alive, I wouldn't have let you stay. Why would I when I in death?" Sid asked.

"I need to stay!" I argued.

Riley walked up to Sid, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Let the lady do what she wants." Riley said.

Sid nodded, walking off.

"Isabella, tell me when Kylie gets here." Riley said.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

Riley smiled. "I make it up as I go along, and it seems to go well."

Then, Riley ran onto the dance floor, nothing but the clothes on his back and the workings of a plan in his head. I got the feeling that happened often.


	25. Chapter 25

Riley

William swung Murphy at Linda, slicing her arm open.

"William!" I shouted, tackling the grey-haired teen on the ground. But I underestimated how strong he was, and he kicked me off, sending me against a wall.

"Murphy! Stop fighting!" I shouted, running at William again. Then, I noticed something. I knew what was going on. "How'd you two get black-blood?"

William smiled, holding his hand over his mouth as Murphy changed back into a human, holding a large knife-wound and laughing.

"I got stabbed," Murphy said after a few tense seconds of laughing. "I got stabbed by Linda, 'cause you killed Medusa. Linda is insane, Dad. I was gonna die, then William helped me. I've got your blood, now. William's got Soul's."

'Stein, that sneaky, creepy bastard.' I thought.

"Murphy, calm down. The black-blood isn't that-" I stopped as Murphy's arm changed into a long, crooked scythe. "Try attacking me, if you want. I'll knock you out." I said.

Murphy laughed, and jumped at me, scythe leveled at my head.

Kylie

I ran into the school, looking for anyone who might know where Riley was. And I saw Dr. Stein, and immediately ran to him, grabbing him by the lapels.

"Stein, what's going on?" I asked.

"It seems William has gotten into two vials of infected blood I had." Stein said. "I had forgotten about them."

My grip tightened. "Infected blood?"

"Yes. From Soul and Riley. It's infected with black-blood, from before Soul and Riley conquered their demons. So to speak." Stein said.

I tossed Stein away and ran to Maka.

"Riley's in there," Maka said, pointing to the gym. I ran inside, and saw Murphy attacking Riley.

"Rye!" I shouted, and Riley turned.

Just in time for Murphy to stab him.


	26. Chapter 26

Murphy

"What's going on?" I asked the demon-thing.

"You just attacked your father, I believe." The demon-thing giggled, biting his fingers.

"I wouldn't do that!" I exclaimed.

"The black-blood would," The demon-thing said.

Riley

"Rye!" I heard Kylie shout, and I turned, forgetting that my son was about to attack me. Then, I suddenly remembered him when he shoved his scythe-arm through my shoulder.

"Agh!" I shouted. Then, I grabbed his arm so he wouldn't attack me further. "I said I'd knock you out, Murph. And I gotta tell ya', at thirty-eight years old, you learn some tricks. Like this!" I said, sending my wavelength out into my son. Murphy shot back, knocked out, though not before dragging his scythe-arm down, cutting my chest a bit.

William looked back at Murphy, seemingly confused, but turned around just in time to get a full-fledged soul-wavelength punch to the face, breaking his nose.

"You just hit your son. How does that feel?" Linda asked, standing against a wall.

I ignored her, walking over to Kylie.

"Rye, you're bleeding a lot." Kylie said.

I shrugged my unhurt shoulder. "It's fine. C'mon, let's knock this girl out and get something to eat. Preferably Chinese."

Kylie giggled, taking my hand. "You're insane."

"Of course." I smiled, and Kylie changed into a claymore. I twirled her around, watching Linda. "You know, I killed your mother a real long time ago. I'd recommend getting over it."

"Your son hates you," Linda said, her voice dripping with venom. "This is all your fault."

I ran at Linda, bringing Kylie around to cut her head off. But Linda slid around me, bringing one of her snakes to my neck.

"He still hates all of you," Linda said.

"Shut. Up. You. Banshee!" I said, slicing the snake in half and elbowing Linda in the face. Linda fell backwards, her nose bleeding.

"How does it feel? Beating a child?" Linda asked.

"Honestly? It really appeals to the villain inside of me," I chuckled. "You know, the guy that killed your mother. The guy who laughed as she bled out."

Linda flung herself at me, roaring.

I ducked under her, not even trying to hurt her. "Yeah, I laughed while Medusa died. But it took her a good, long time to die. Always does."

Linda shoved several snakes at where I had been, but I had dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding death.

"And I'd kill her again!" I shouted. That was the final straw. Linda shot at me, screeching like the banshee she was. Then, I thrust Kylie forward, and Linda was too full of momentum to stop.

"Agh!" Linda shouted. Kylie had gone all the way through her, and Linda had no hope of living. I gently slid Linda off, Linda cursing me every inch of the way. Then, I stood and walked over to Murphy and William, both of them completely knocked out. I picked Murphy up as Kylie changed back into a human.

"Rye, you don't look to good," Kylie said.

"Because I'm not." I said. "I just killed a teenager."

"It's not like you had a choice." Kylie said.

"You're right. I didn't." I sighed. "I'm going to retire. I've given DWMA plenty of things over the twenty freakin' years I've worked for them. But I'm not going to be a Death Scythe anymore."

Kylie patted me on the back. "Are we still going to get afreet eggs?"

I smiled. "Aye. We might travel the world, or something. Just not this crap anymore."

Kylie smiled. "That'd be great. Have you told Maka?"

I nodded. "I've been planning this for a long time."

Murphy began to stir.

"Did you knock the demon out?" I asked.

"No. The demon-thing kept his distance." Murphy moaned.

"Good." I said.


	27. Chapter 27

Murphy

I wasn't in trouble for what I did, surprisingly, and DWMA didn't even seem to care that much; they were much more interested in replacing the Irish Death Scythes, Uncle Soul and Aunt Kylie, who had resigned, along with Mom and Dad.

Dad and I were both in the same hospital room, the same one Dad always got as a teen. I felt guilty about stabbing him, but Dad only chuckled and dismissed it.

"It's not like you lopped my head off or anything." Dad had said.

William and I were now best friends, and we regularly saw movies and skateboarded. In fact, as soon as I was out of the hospital, I was going to skateboard with him.

Zoe was a bit mad at me, but wasn't mad for long (who can stay mad at a cute guy like me?) and gave me a giant hug in the hospital, though not much else, because both of us had sneaking suspicions that Dad wasn't actually asleep.

Dr. Stein didn't get in trouble for having Soul and Dad's blood, but nobody but Shinigami-sama, me, William, Mom, and Dad (and a few others) knew, so it was just swept under the rug.

The whole family was going to take a month-long trip to Japan soon, because Mom had always wanted to go. While Dad and I learned how to cuss in Japanese (with Mom chuckling, shaking her head and saying 'like Father like Son'), Kay got the good news that Ryu was going with his family to the same place as us (luck o' the Irish, Dad chuckled) and Zoe convinced Kid to let her go, saying that Japan was very symmetrical.

And that was the end of the worst (and almost last) night of my life. I hoped you liked it much more than everyone involved did.

**A/N: Thanks to all for reading this. This is probably the ending of the whole McConnell series, and I kind of think it ended on a bad note. But that's for you to decide. Anyways, thanks for sticking with me through the whole series.**

**-MN1**


End file.
